Our Journey
by KaiserFlame45
Summary: A guild unlike many. A place full of mysteries, a home for those in need, a blink of hope and happiness that shines even in this world full of darkness and cruelty. Whenever you are a king or a slave, a child or an old man, a dragon or a demon, famous or infamous, if you wish to be part of this family, then welcome to Fairy Tail. Let the adventure begin!
1. The end and the start

_Hello everyone. This is my first time publishing a fanfiction here, so please don't be too harsh on me XD_

_Since english isn't my first language, errors are unfortunately inevitable. A such if you see any just tell me in the review section and I'll patch it later. _

_Now, for the actual fic, this will mainly be a Fairy Tail story with elements of the Fate-verse. Since I haven't seen many crossovers with those two series I decided to write one myself. Please enjoy!_

_Disclaim: I don't own Fairy Tail nor Fate/Stay Night_

* * *

**Prologue 1 (part 1)**

* * *

It was around noon and the Sun was shining brightly in the sky, it's light falling upon the large forest but not quite reaching the soil. Said forest was located in the nothern region of the Kindom of Fiore and was quite old, maybe even ancient from the aura of mystery that was surrounding it. Each of its many trees was at least an hundred meter high and together, with their dense foliage, they blocked most of the Sun rays, leaving just enough for the grass and small plants to grow at their feets. Many kind of beasts lived there, both common ones like wolfs and bears in the outskirt and primordial ones such as Uridimmu and Ugallu deep inside.

In ancient time it was it was said that a powerful beast lived there, one even its creators, the Gods, feared. None dared to venture in that place, afraid of it. But then, according to some tales, it got slayed down by two brave heroes. Rumors had it that it was 'the rift between the two worlds', where the livings crossed path with the deads and the gate to the Underworld stood tho nobody knew the truth.

Called the Cedar Forest, it was known as the resting place of Fiore's first king who went to a journey in search for immortality and never came back according to the myths.

* * *

The place was in ruins. It may had been a beautiful temple in the distant past, but time made it lost its former glory. Probably built in honor of the Gods, nowaday it was nothing more than a heap of rocks. Located somewhere in the Cedar Forest, it was hidden from the eyes of common people by a powerful boundary that even now was standing strong and was preventing thieves and tresure hunters to profane this sacred place.

Under that pile of rubble, some meters underground, there was a workshop used for many important rituals in ancient times. Most of the pillars that supported the cracked ceiling and walls were ruined. Pieces of statues of a beatiful lady wielding a lance, probably a Goddess, were laying around.

Everything felt normal exept for one thing. A glowing circle was placed in the middle of the hall, one that was clearly magical in its nature from the many ancient inscription inside it.

On that day, at that hour, in the middle of the circle a sudden light started to emerge from it. The light opened a square hole with stairs that connected the workshop with a place beneath it, an otherwordly black space devoid of anything and that couldn't possibly have existed. At first there was silence. And then the sound of footsteps started to come from the other side.

"So this is the effect of the herb of immortality? Who was the fool that called it in this way? Rather than gifting eternal life, it has only a rejuvenate effect. What a scam!" was the first thing that he said once he stepped outside of the magical cercle, which vanished along the hole immediately after.

After he looked around, the man, no the child realesed a deep breath. A naked blond boy with crimson eyes and marks of the same color glowing on the side of his abdomen and under his cheeks.

"If only that damn 'snake' didn't show up and attacked me. Why was that thing even in the Underworld to begin with? Not only it took many of my tresures to hunt it down, but I was even forced to drink this sorry excuse of an elixir to survive from its last attack." he added exasperated, while holding his head with one hand.

He then stretched his limbs a little and touched himself around.

'Oh well it seems like both my magical and physical powers dropped significaly. In this state I'll probably not even be able to open half of the portals that my older self could, not to mention I clearly can't use 'it' in my current body. Figures.'

It sure had been a long time since he saw the light of the sun. The trees, the animals, everything seemed so new and interesting. After coming out from the temple, he stretched his small body in order to better feel his surrounding. The sound of birds, the smell of wood and the sensation of the wind on his skin were all so refreshing. To think that he, who had once obtained everything in the world, now was attracted by the mere air around him. If only his dear friend could see him right now they would surely laughed loudly.

After what felt like an eternity, he then opened a golden floating portal beside him and took some garments from his treasury.

Once dressed, he walked outside from the bondary. The instant he step outside of it, the magical barrier cracked into pieces of magical particles and suddenly a huge amount of magical power was realised.

Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, had finally returned from his long journey.

* * *

On the other side of the world, in a mountain region in the middle of nowhere, two beings were having a meeting.

One was a powerful black sorcerer with black hair, dark eyes and was wearing a black dress with a white toga on top of it.

The other was a drangon slayer covered by a black clock and had blue long hair, dark blue eyes and markings of the same color all over his tan body.

They were having a rather 'heated' discussion when suddenly they felt it. It was just for an instant, but a powerful surge of magic errupted from nowhere.

"... What was that?" asked the sorcerer.

"Hmph, so you also felt it eh? A powerful energy has just beeig realised, tho it was just for a second so I couldn't pinpoint its origin." replied the dragon slayer.

"Well it doesn't matter. As things stand right now nothing can stop me. Just a few more years and 'it' will become complete, and then when 'he' will return, I'll finally achieve my dream and no one shall stand against me!"

A threatening aura and a cold expression accompanied those words. And with that the sorcerer disolved in magical particles and disappeared.

"...Haha...hahaha...hahahahahaha. Things are starting to get crazier and crazier! So you dare challenge me eh, Black Wizard? Very well, I shall accept. But you better be ready for when I'll obtain the ultimate power, which surpasses even that of the Evil Dragon King Fafnir, the World will feel my wrath!" shouted the dragon slayer, his face contorted into a crazy smile.

* * *

_Author's note: _

_So how was it? Some may have already noticed, but I had to change some stuff here and there from the source materials in order to fit Gilgamesh in Fairy Tail's world. I hope I managed to captured his majesty's character well enough, but if he seemed a little off let me know._

_I've already started write part 2 of this prologue but I don't know when I'll finish it. Speaking the truth, I don't even know if I'll continue this story or not after Prologue 2 (Yes there will be another one before the official start!) since this is just a small project I started in my free time. _

_Welp, I said even too much. Time to say goodbye. If you have any question just leave a review and I'll try to answer ;)_


	2. Brother and sister

_So here we are. The second chapter of this fic is here (tho it took more time than expected). By the way I also have updated the first chapter since I noticed some grammatical mistakes when rereading it. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail nor Fate/Stay Night_

* * *

**Prologue 1 (part 2)**

* * *

The boy smiled. To think that the place he once knew like the back of his hand would change so much. The ecosystem was unlike that of his time when Gods and demons were still a dominant part of this world, and phantasmal beasts such as dragons were not a rare sight. Now, at the exception of the many demonic beasts that festered the forest, there weren't many mythical creatures left anymore. Once a familiar place in which he had many adventures, it now felt a foreign and unexplored land waiting to be discovered.

It was certainly not a surprise since centuries had passed from the last time he had walked those soils, and so changes were to be expected. After all nothing escapes the flow of time, not even himself. If things were to remain the same, as once those arrogant Gods wished for, there would be no evolution, no progress and no future. Things would simply become monotone, boring, lifeless. That was something that he, Gilgamesh, truly detested. To him an everlasting present was something both meaningless and foolish, for it would only lead to stagnation and lose of value in everything. Only through hardship mankind could fulfill its potential, and that is why he welcomed the unexpected and the unknown for those were the things at the base of their growth.

He was enjoying the walk. But while it was indeed pleasant strolling around, it was starting to get boring after a while. He wished for something to happen that would liven up the day and shacke off the feeling of boredom that was killing him. Anything that could spark a bit of curiosity would have been ok.

And then his wish got fulfilled. Encounter an unconscious little girl laying on the ground was not something he foresaw would happen after all. Was it by any chance a fateful meeting, or maybe it was just a mere coincidental event?

"Well well look at what we have here, a cute little lady alone here in the middle of nowhere. I do wonder what are you doing here." said Gil while casually inspecting her.

Short blue hair, wearing only a white dress and had seemingly no personal belongings. Her age was probably not over five years old. Truly a strange situation, especially since there was a magical barrier surrounding her that probably was used to fend off the beasts in the nearby area.

He slowly approached her, and with a hand touched and destroyed said protection.

'Wind magic eh? But not of the common type. It feels ancient, like that of a dragon...' contemplated the boy while thinking about the energy he just felt.

"You know, usually it is not my in my interest intruding in other people lives, but you have piqued my interest. So tell me, little sheep that lost its way, who are you?" asked then the young king with a smile, while slightly kneeling down.

There was no response.

"Mmmhhh are you ok? Hey cute lady, still alive there?", but still no response.

After a few seconds of silence, he got closer to check on her and noticed that her face was slightly red. This and her gasping breath made things clear.

'A fever uh. If left uncured, it may eventually lead to her death. What to do I wonder... Well, normally I would leave fate do its work and ignore such things since it would be of no concern to me. But since I still have question for you, I can't let you die on me, now can I?' and so he slightly lifted his arm and from a golden floating portal it dropped on his hand a small ampoule, with a greenish medicine inside it.

He then lifted the girl on his shoulder. But just when he was ready to leave, sudden noises came from behind the nearby bushes.

"Argh, can't you lot not annoy me? It has been already a long day...Hmph, who I'm even kidding. What a preposterous idea to even think that a bunch of beasts would understand me. Oh well, then come at me!" and a dozen of golden portals were ready to welcome the Ugallu as they all run toward him.

* * *

\- Some hours later -

It was dark. Everything around her was pitch black. She was there alone, in a world devoid of anything except her.

She felt heavy, so heavy that it was difficult to even to stand. She was weak, so weak that each muscle of her body refused to move even an inch. Her sense of touch was numb, her hearing could not intercept a single sound, and her nose smelled no odor.

Then a white figure started to take form in front of her. Yes, a big majestic creature that she recognized was now standing before her eyes.

She tried to call for her, but no voice come out from her throat. She tried to run toward her, but her feet refused to move. No matter how much she screamed or cried, the white figure could not notice her.

And then it started to fade away. As it disappeared from sight, an overwhelming sense of fear took over inside her.

"Aaaaahhhhh!"

Suddenly the girl woke up with teary eyes. She quicly turned left and right with a panicked expression. No sign of her 'mother'. So it was not just a dream, she really had been left behind alone.

"G-Grandine, w-where are you..."

It was a day like any other. Mother and child were walking around the forest like always. And then it happened, the the girl suddenly felt asleep and at her wake the Sky Dragon was nowhere to be seen.

She desperately tried to look for her and searched any possible place where the dragon may had gone, but in vain.

Her body felt drained of all energy. The accumulated fatigue from running around all day without pause must have caused her to collapsed. But why was she now near a rive? It was strange. But she didn't care about it, she didn't want to think about anything else at the moment.

Her heart hurt, so much that it seemed like it could explode at any mament. It felt like an arrow pierced her tiny chest. The pain was unbearable and the tears wouldn't stop dropping.

"Ehm, can you stop crying please? My royal ears can't bear the sound of a crying infant."

At that, the girl stopped and turned around. A young boy was there, sitting on a bunch of pillows. Who was he?

"Ah, now it's better. Such a cute face now that I look better. You'll definitely grow into a fine woman in the future. Indeed, I, the king, can guarantee for you." said the boy with a confident tone.

"E-ehm, w-who are you?" asked the girl hesitantly.

"You know, usually it is rude to ask for another person's name without first presenting yourself."

"Ah, e-ehm...I-I'm sorry!" apologized the girl while bowing her head many times.

"Hahaha, relax. I was simply making fun of you, don't need to be so worked up. As for who I am, I'm simply a person who is currently enjoying his life. You may call me Gil. So now that I have presented myself, can I have the pleasure to hear your name, little lady?" replied the blonde boy while making a small bow after standing up.

"W-Wendy...Wendy Marvel!"

After telling to each other their respective names, the two started to talk about themselves. Wendy came to hear amazing tales of Gil's past adventures and Gil came to know about Wendy's life as a dragon slayer with Grandine.

As the two continued their conversation, Wendy started to feel slightly better. It was strange, the sadness and feeling of loneliness that haunted her a few minutes ago were now starting to disappear little by little. And a new feeling developed inside her, something she had never felt before in her life and didn't quite understand yet. The boy, Gil, was a total stranger. Yet, for some mysterious reasons, she felt like she had known him for all her life. His being, his voice, his laughs gave her strength and relived of the worries that burdened her. She felt safe and happy with him near. At first he may had seemed to be a bit scary, but slowly she came to know him better as time passed. A good hearted boy that helped her in her time need without asking nothing in return, that was the kind of person Gil was. A reassuring presence that could be described like that of a family member, but unlike that of he mother. Instead it was more akin to that of a brother of sort.

"You are a funny person, Gil." said Wendy with a small smile on her face.

Hearing those words sparked a nostalgic feeling in him. Memories started to flood in him as he remembered a starry night of many centuries ago, when he was still king. It was the first time that someone had ever called him, Gilgamesh, funny. And that someone had been none other his dear friend.

"…So Wendy-chan, what are your plans for the future?"

"Plans?"

"Surely you don't plan on remainig here for the rest of your life, right?"

"I-I don't know. I have no friends nor a house to stay. I have always followed Grandine but now..."

"Then want to come with me?" proposed Gil.

"W-Where?"

"I don't know. For now I'll wander across this new Age full of wonders. But who knows, maybe eventually I'll settle down somewhere. So, what do you think?"

"...I...C-can I really go with you? " at which Gil nodded happily. " T-then I'm counting on y-you from now on, Gil-oniichan!"

Displaying an adorable big grin, she went to give the boy an energetic hug.

"Hahaha. Things certainly took an unexpected course, but perhaps this will be fun." murmured the King of Heroes while returning the hug and admiring the dawn in the distant horizon.

And so it was the start of his, no their new journey together. Many adventures awaited them along the road and many hardships would inevitably appear in their path, but as long as they stood side by side they would be able to face anything.

* * *

\- Some years later -

Somewhere, in the northern region of Fiore, it was located the headquarter of a certain guild named Cait Shelter.

Inside of it, an old man, Cait Shelter's guild master Roubaul, was currently talking via lacrima with one of the guild's member. Said member was the most powerful one of the guild, a mage of grade HERO.

"So a bunch of lowly mongrels from a dark guild are creating havoc, and you and the some other guild masters decided to form an alliance and send a group of mages to punish them? And you are asking me to take part in it? Fool! As if I would stood so low as to clear your mess! Now go, I am busy right now and have no time to deal with your foolish requests." stated an annoyed voice from the other side of the communication.

"But please listen, you are the only other I can send otherwise Wendy will went there alone and despite how stronger of a mage she became in those years, I fear she may catch herself in some trouble. Please I implore you, not as a guild master, but as an old man caring for someone who is like a nephew to him, help me!" implored Roubaul.

"...Tsk. Hmph, It can't be helped then. Since I have no further business on my side, I should depart not too long from now. Tell Wendy that I'll join her later on. I hope at least that this so called 'Oración Seis' is tough enough to not bore me to death." and with that the call got suddenly interrupted.

"So how it went?" asked a girl to the guild master once he went outside the building.

She was Wendy Marvel. She now had long blue hair, and was wearing a simple hand-made green sleeveless dress. Wing like attachments were around her arms and legs.

At this, the old man released a deep breath and replied. "Yes. He'll take part in the operation, tho for a second I feared the worst. Seriously, sometimes your brother is quite difficult to deal with. But at least when it comes to you he will never refuse."

"W-well he certainly changed in those years, but he is still the good person that he has always been ever since I met him." said apologetically Wendy.

"Hahahaha, I don't doubt. After all he has always helped the guild when needded despite his stubbornness. Now Wendy, is everything ready for your departure?"

"Yes master! I took everything I need for the mission. So I'll go then, see you later and say goodbye for me to the other members of the guild!"

"Still, sending you alone makes me worry..."

"Alone? I think not. I'll go with her, master." said suddenly a voice from behind the girl.

A little white cat was there, walking on two limbs and wearing a small pinkish dress with a red jib around her neck. Her name was Charle and she was an Exceed, a rare type of familiar that usually followed dragon slayer around. In her case, she had been with Wendy ever since she came out from the egg that Gilgamesh found during one of their many trips together.

"Charle! You are also coming with me?"

"But of course. Otherwise I would worry to no end if you were to go off alone."

"Then I leave Wendy in your capable paws, Charle."

"Don't worry. I'll make sure to keep her out of trouble, at least until his brother arrives."

And so the two left the guild and started to walk toward their destination. Soon mages from other three guilds would join them in the fight against the dark guild Oración Seis, one of the three pillars of the Balam Alliance.

* * *

_Author's note:_

_So, what can I say here? Did anyone expected things to ended up like this? Nobody? Me neither haha. Just went along with the random ideas that pop out in my head._

_This last part is a little preview to what you may expect in the arc 2 of this fic, the Oración Seis arc. For now we will leave Gil and Wendy, and take our focus on some other characters that will appear in the next chap which will start prologue 2, the true one that will lead to the main first arc._

_First, I hope neither Kid Gil nor Wendy sounded too strange. I tried to keep them in chara as much as possible, but I'm sorry if they somehow sounded a little OC._

_Second, here some useful info._

_1) Yes, Gil just took the role that Edolas Jellal had in the manga. The character along all that Edolas stuff will not be part of my story. There will be mostly no dimensional traveling, bare some very rare exceptions. But what about the Exceeds? Charle appeared in this chap after all. Well, just consider them normal familiar. For their link to the dragon slayers, it will explained in the future (probably). And Mystogan? Next few chaps will give you an answer._

_2)How the hell did Cait Shelter come to be? In canon it was created because of Wendy and here things went similarly, but not exactly. As for their personal story, it will be slightly different than the manga but you'll need to wait for arc 2._

_3)About Wendy, how strong is she? Well stronger than canon version certainly, but for how much exactly you need to wait for arc 2._

4_)The HERO class is a special rank given to the strongest mage of each guild. Yes it stands above S class. Why did I created? Well, mainly because Gilgamesh was too strong to be a simple S class. But also, if you considered the Fairy Tail manga, someone like Gildarts was way above the lv. of any other S rank in his guild. The dude was comparable with the ten saints in terms of power and had cheat like ability. Him being just an S class mage didn't make sense at all. So him having an unique title feels quite appropriate. Why the word HERO? What do you mean? Isn't it self explanatory?_


	3. Together in Hell

_Start of prologue 2, finally here! This time it took less time because I already started to write it even before ending chapter 2 XD. Please enjoy yourself like usual. I also did some small edit to the last chapter and corrected some mistakes (like Charle being blue, omg how the f*ck did I mistaked her fur color lol!)._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail nor Fate/Stay Night._

* * *

**Prologue 2 (part 1)**

* * *

"Arghhhh! Help me,help me!" screamed painfully a man from his cell.

"Please, please don't hurt me! I'll do everything you order me!" begged desperately a woman from an other cell.

"Whaaaa, I wanna go home!" cried out a small kid from the otherside of the wall.

Those screams of terror, those plea of help and those lashing from whips were the only audible sounds that could be heard there, in that hellish place forgotten by the Gods. A prison built on an island isolated from the world, in the middle of nowhere, and surrounded by a powerful mystic barrier that not only wardened intruders from outside but also prevented prisoners to escape. Not that it was possible to even attempt such a thing in the first place, with the amount of guards and beasts watching over the place nearly 24/7. Nobody had ever escaped from there, not alive at least, and those who tried had met an end worse than death.

Here everyone was treated as slaves, as objects to use until they broke. Who they were, their age, gender and origin, none of those had importance anymore. As long as they followed the rules, they could hope to live for another day, to not be beaten and to not die from hunger. But if they screwed up, if commands were not followed, they could only pray that the punishment would not be too severe. But even in the best of cases, things like burns all over the body, broken bones, destroyed eyes or cut off ears would happen.

Everyday, early in the morning, they were called to work. Their job was simple: building a tower on top of the prison. They didn't know its purpose, nor for whom they were building it for. But one thing was sure: even those who knew nothing of magic had an omnious feeling just watching it, despite it was yet to be completed. Dark magical cercles and ancient inscriptions were all over it, giving it a majestic yet horrifing aura.

Only one meal each day, few hours of sleep and no sanitation. No wonder so many prisoners died every week. And sometimes the guards would take away random prisoners to bring them somewhere in the underground area. But their numbers not only didn't lowered at all, but instead kept increasing as new prisoners were brought there everyday.

At first it was fear, then pain and regret, and at the end only despair was left in the souls of those who ended there, the 'Hell on Earth' called Château d'if.

* * *

"Did you really think you could stole food unoticed?! You lousy brats!" shouted a guard while holding an electrified whip, his robe white unlike that of the other guards beside him who were wearing all black and carring each one a magicaly enhanced lance. All of them had mischievious expressions, as to mock those foolish little 'pests' in front of them.

"...", no response. The two children were trembling in fear, shivering from the threatening stares.

"Hmmm on principle I should just toss both of you little bastards on our underground 'test' chamber but..." he stopped for an istance, exchanged an amused smile with the other guards, and continued "... just for today I'll settle with just one of you, so tell me who was the mastermind? Hahahaha..."

"...I...I-it was..." murmured the boy, a kid with blue hair and eyes and marks on the right side of his face, while sweet kept dropping furiously from his forehead.

"Mhhh sorry what? I couldn't hear you!" and a hit from the whip followed those words. "So who was the one eh? Or maybe I should just bring both of you there? Hahaha your choices!"

"...", words wouldn't come out from the boy's throat, his tongue paralysed and his mind blank.

"...It was me, I planned it all and he followed." replied suddenly the other child, a girl with long, scarlet hair.

"So it was you, wasn't it? Well take her away, we'll have some 'fun' with her later on!" ordered the guard while grabbing the girl's arm and started laughing maniacally.

"E-Erza, you-" said the blue haired boy to the girl. A sad and regretful expression was on his face as he stretched his arm in an attempt to reach her.

"Don't worry, Jellal. It's not scarry at all, everything is going to be ok..." replied Erza, while faking a smile.

Then suddenly a voice could be heard behind the man.

"Hey you, they are just two hungry children. Leave them alone!" and a fist flew just when the guard turned around, hitting him straight on his face and making him leave the girl and fell on his butt.

"W-who is it?! Who dare punch me?!" shout furiously the man, while touching his pained right cheek.

He then looked up. Standing in front of him it was a tall young man with silver hair and pale skin.

"Y-you..."

"Yes, me and my fist! Let's see if you can still laugh after I break your jaw! "

The youngster jumped on the guard and started punching him left and right, and would probably have killed him if not for the other guards who stopped him in time and restrained him.

"G-grrrrrrr, die trash!" and a kick hit the silver haired prisoner. Another one came, and then many more followed as the guards ganged up against the poor man.

Lash from whips and cuts from lances made his body dripping blood everywhere, and slowely a small pool of red formed under him. An horrific sight, a display of the consequences that rebellious conducts would lead, a merciless and brutal punishment that would haunt the mind of the children near him for a long time.

"And this is just the start. Don't think even for a second to die so easly. Oh no no what awaits you from now on is something far more terrifying hahaha." murmured the guard in white, while grabbing the now messy and bloody hair of the youngster.

"Treat him and send him to the 'test' chamber along the brat." he ordered to another guard, and so the two were taken away to the underground area.

* * *

It was Erza's first time there, in the 'test' underground chamber, ever since she was brought in that Hell. When she first heard of it, she thought it would have been somekind of torture room, but instead It was a large chamber with white walls and floor. On one side there was a door, on the other side a magical barrier.

When she woke up, beside her stood the person that tried to help her and her friend before. He was quite tall and judging by his face he probably was in his middle twenties. Scars could be seen through the holes on his garments and were all over his skinny body. A veteran prisoner then. And now that she looked more carefully, a strange black collar was around his neck which seemed some kind of device.

He turned toward her and then immediately back.

"E-ehm..." she tried to talk with him, but no response.

After that, some minutes passed. Then a loud voice came from the other side of the barrier and broke the awkward silence between the two.

"Test subject 1 and 2 in place. Subject 1's magical inibitatore is off. Enemy 'Goul' has been dispatched. Experiment starting."

At those words something came out from the door.

A man, no it was more akin to a beast with white rotted skin and long, black hair that covered his eyes. Sharp canines could be seen through its creepy smile and stains of dry blood were covering its naked chest. It wasn't wearing any garment outside of a pair of old white pants.

Fear was the sole emotion inside Erza in that moment, a primordial instinct of danger like that of a prey in front of a predator.

As it started to slowly walk toward them, each step heavier and more powerful, she couldn't help but back away a little.

Then it stopped. A second passed. Another second went by. With each tick of the clock her heart skipped faster and faster, her legs trembled more and more, and sweet filled her forehead.

* * *

Suddenly a powerful scream came from its throat, followed by a demonic laugh.

A gust of wind rose around the creature, as an enormous amount of magical power got released. And then it disappeared in a blink of eye.

Erza immediately turned around and it was there, with its pair of horrific crimson eyes, ready to end her life. But just before its huge arm land on her, the silver haired man grabbed her dress and tossed her away while jumping backward.

Lightning started to form in the palm of his right hand and around his body, covering him in a blue electric aura. As his eyes sparked, the man launched himself with supersonic speed. The earth cracked and, as he reappeared few inches from the monster, a lightning punch hit it straight in the face and destroy its head.

Blood splattered in his face as he exclaimed "Is this all you have? Don't make me laugh! You'll need more than this walking corpse to defeat me!".

'Was it over? Can I finally go back to Jellal?', but to Erza's dismay things were far from finished. The half destroyed corpse suddenly stood up and all the blood that it lost before flew to him, making him new again, as if nothing happened.

"Tsk." and another lightning punch was threw, but this time the demonic being dodged the attack and counterattacked with with a slash of his right arm, now a giant scythe, which he barely managed to avoid.

The two continued to exchange strikes, the creature deploying claws and trying to overwhelm him with its superior physical prowess and the youngster with long ranged attacks such as spheres of lightning and electrical discharges. But as the fight kept going, he started to weaken little by little, his body strained and his magical energy depleted.

'Seems like I'm at my limit. The next attack will be the last one.' and so he started to gather his remaining power, ready to end the fight.

But just before he could finish, something unexpected happened. Instead of running toward him, it went in the direction of the girl.

'Why, why did it suddenly changed target?'

He did not know the reason nor it was important at the moment. He needed to protect the child, at all cost. He run, run as fast as his legs could and maybe even faster.

Erza was on her kneels, powerless in front of those big claws that were felling on her. Her legs were paralyzed by fear and refused to listen to her and her body was shaking like a leaf. There was nothing she could do. It was the end. She would die alone in this place, her corpse devoured by the creature and her being forgotten by the world.

And so red liquid splat everywhere. But it was not hers, as she was still in one piece. Instead someone else took the strike in her stead.

Then came a shout, "Take this!", and a bolt sent the monster fly away.

As she slowly looked up, she heard a thud. Tears would not stop to drop from her eyes as she tried to awake her savior.

He sacrificed his life for her. It was all because she was weak that she ended up being a burden. It was all her fault that this man died. Regret, sadness, anger and many other emotions exploded in her as something new started to awaken in her soul and the gears of destiny started to move.

As the moster stood up once again, a scream echoed in the chamber and swords pierced its body.

"...I'll never forgive you!" declared Erza as more floating swords started to appear around her.

At her signal all of them flew toward the beast at high speed, and like powerful cannon ball ripped apart its body.

But it was still not enough. Even without its head or heart, the monster kept regenerating and advancing in her direction like a machine, a brainless being filled only with the desire to eat. Unstoppable, or at least until a lightning blade pierced its chest at just few steps from the girl.

"You tough bastard, repent yourself in Hell!" came from the silver haired man, who barely managed to lift his weak arm for the attack.

A huge cross made of lightning surrounding the creature and a flash of light enveloped the room as a painful roar was heard.

It was no more, its soul no loger in this world and his body reduced to atoms. This time it was definitely gone.

It finally ended. They were still there, breathing heavily and alive. Their bodies were still intact.

They then both collapsed on the floor from exhaustion and smiled while watching the white ceiling.

"...Not bad kid. What's your name?"

"E-Erza..."

"Only Erza?"

"...Erza Scarlet!"

"Hmph, good. Mine is Dantès, Edmond Dantès."

* * *

_Author's note:_

_A partnership among two fellow prisoners_ _is born! Hope you lot like this chapter. Seriously, the idea came as soon as I started to read the Tower of Paradise arc. The setting was just perfect. It practically screamed to be used in this fic. The Count of Montecristo is one of my favorite character in literature and his version in FGO is just amazing, among my top favorite servants. (planning on at least np2 him next year) I just couldn't resist to put him in my story :) Here he is still young and so he may seems different, but as the story goes he'll become more similar to his canon version, in both personality and powers._

_As for Erza, well what can I say. She just gained a new brother figure of sort hahaha. About her powers, they are slightly different than in the manga. I'll not say more, but from this chapter some might already guessed with whom her abilities are similar..._

_And speaking of battle, this is the first time I write one so I'm open to critics. Hope it is easy to follow. I didn't wrote it, but it should be obvious that the enemy is a Dead Apostole, more precisely a Goul._

_One last thing. About the HERO class, it is like the S class, just a way to judge the lv. of a mage and not a title like 'One of the Ten Saint Wizards'. One can belong in the class and have also a title. I'm sorry if I didn't properly explained it._


	4. Family

_Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail nor Fate/Stay Night._

* * *

**Prologue 2 (part 2)**

* * *

If an outsider was asked to describe that place, the answer would certainly not be a cell in a prison. At least not in that moment since it resembled more like a school class, with an old man filling the role of a teacher and two little students sat on the floor listening to him with particular interest.

The theme of the 'lesson' was magic, its origin, history and applications. Magic was a supernatural phenomenon that transcended human logic and comprehension. Since the creation of the universe, it had always been a part of everything. Wielded before by the Gods and then by mankind, it's existence had always accompanied life since the dawn of Ages. Its working was still a mystery to that day despite many centuries of research and it's origin totally unknown despite being possessed by almost all living creatures in the form of mana which was the fuel that, once channeled through ones circuits, allowed the mage to perform miracles otherwise impossible.

"Wait Rob-jiisan so even I can use magic?" asked eagerly one of the children, a blue haired boy named Jellal Fernandes.

"But of course, Jellal-kun. Once your magical circuits are active, you'll be able to perform magic just like Erza and Dantès." answered the old man, whose name was Rob Faria, while patting the kid's small head.

Looking afar one would have confused the two for a grandpa and his grandson. That was how close Rob and Jellal relationship was, despite knowing each other for only a small period of time.

It happened a few weeks ago, when their respective friends Dantès and Erza returned from the 'test' chamber, and they were all tossed together in the same cell, the one where the silver-haired youngster was previously imprisoned with Rob. Despite the first meeting, which felt a little strange and awkward, they soon formed a strong bond with each other, especially the two who fought together. Family is a word used often to describe those who share the same blood, and yet despite that not being the case there, they really felt like one.

"Whoa, then I can't wait for when it will happen. I want to learn magic and become a great mage like Dantès aniki so that I can protect Erza with my own hands!" exclaimed the boy, at which the girl near him, Erza, slightly blushed.

"Ho oh, looks like we have a little knight in shiny armor here. Look, you even made Erza-chan fluster a little with those words of yours!" joked Rob with a mischievous smile while touching his long, white beard.

"I-it's not true Ojii-san..." tried to reply Erza, while hiding her obvious embarrassment.

"Hahaha it was just a joke, no need to be so serious...or wasn't it?" at which he received a deadly glare from the girl.

"Ok ok let's just return to today's lesson. Where did I stop?"

"Ah you were just about to begin to explain the different types of magic that exist in our world."

"Good Jellal-kun. Now then let's start with the basics. Talking about the many types of magic that exists in the world, one needs to first start from the very root. Magic in its essence is manipulation of the reality. By using mana, a mage can recreate and control the world that surrounds them, such as natural phenomenon like fire and lightning, objects made of different materials like wood or steel, even physical forces like gravity. It can be used in many ways, such as incantations or writed words, and it can be applied to everything and everywhere."

" So what type is mine?" interrupted Erza.

"Mmmmhhhh can't say for sure. You said that you thought of swords in your mind and they appeared suddenly in midair. From your description, it seems like a kind of projection magic, but it is still too soon to say for sure."

Upon hearing this, she turned her head slightly down with a sad and disappointed expression, probably because it was not the answer that she hoped for. She was so eager to learn more about her new powers and to improve herself so that she could be more useful to her friends, but now she couldn't anymore.

"…Don't worry little one. This old man here may not have the answer you are seeking, but be assured that I'll help you find it in whenever way I can!"

She nodded. "Thanks, Ojii-san."

"Shuuss. It's my duty as an elder to guide you youngsters."

"Right Erza, Rob-jiisan said that he'll help you so you don't need to worry. And I'll also give you a hand so rest assured that we'll figure something out. After all like they say, three heads are always batter than one." added Jellal with a confident tone.

She turned toward him and with a big smile thanked him.

"Thanks Jellal for always being here to support me."

The boy turned a little red on the face before calming himself.

"N-nothing. W-well what about you teacher, what magic do you know?"

"My magic? Well it is a pretty common one. Here take a look at this..." and the old man drew a strange symbol on the floor. "It's runic magic. It's based on symbols like this one that allows me to perform magic. When I was younger I was quite the master of runes. Speaking of which, have I ever told you that I used to be part of a guild before I retired and become a priest?". He then turned around and lifted his white shirt to show the big, black stamp on his back. "This is Fairy Tail's guild crest."

"Whooooaaaa..." admired the two children, whose surprise couldn't be more evident on their little faces, entranced by the mere idea of being part of a guild, surrounded by many skilled mages and working alongside them.

"How was Fairy Tail?" they then asked.

"...A good place." replied Rob, as memories of his past years in that place started to flow in his head, the many adventures he took part in, the many joyous moments he spent with his friends and his guild master and every single laugh and cry. They were still etched in his mind and were an important part of his being, now and forever. "In the future if you like I'll gladly bring both of you with me to visit it."

"..." , and then silence dropped on the chamber as the cruel reality hit them.

They were still there, imprisoned and treated like slaves, caught in those dark walls and behind those cold bars made of steel and enhanced by magic. No future awaited them as long as they were trapped there.

* * *

Suddenly a small tremble came from a medium large rock located in a dark corner of the room, hidden from the eyes of the guards. Silver hairs came out from a hole behind the rock: it was him, Dantès.

"You have returned … So everything is ready?" came from his old friend, who now assumed a more serious tone of voice and expression on his face.

"...Yeah, everything is in place. It took years to dig this tunnel without the guards noticing anything, especially without magic. But now that it is ready for use we can finally start our plan." stated Edmond as he placed the stone back to its place.

"Hey you two, you better listen carefully because I'll not repeat myself and make sure to memorize everything because if we screw up now we'll never get another chance to escape this Hell." and at this both children gulped a little and focused their attention to every single detail of the operation.

They came to know about it only some days ago, when the two older prisoners decided it was nearly time to finish the preparations.

It felt so sudden, like a thunder that struck down in a sunny day. But it certainly left its mark on them. The amount of joy and happiness they felt was indescribable. A hope, something they thought to have already lost, lightened up on their heart as salvation was finally in reach and they would make it happen with their own hands.

The escape that took many years of accurate preparations was finally gonna set in motion, it's implementation possible only now that all pieces were gathered.

"First we'll need to get rid of those damn inhibitors." he said as he touched the dark ring around his neck, the same Rob and Erza were wearing.

"Not only they prevent us from using magic, but they also work like a sort of track devises. We'll need the key and you'll be the one to snatch it from the guard's room, kid." and he pointed toward Jellal.

"M-me?"

"You are the only one without a ring here so it is on you. Don't worry about the guards tho, I'll make sure to keep them occupy with a bit of 'distraction'. Now take this, it will allow you to access the room. Don't lose it, I don't have any spares with me."

And he took out a magical badge from his pocket that he stole from a guard that he 'accidentally' bumped into earlier that day.

"But they'll send you down there in 'that' place again!" protested Erza, worried that something tragic may happen to a member of her new family.

"That is if they still can use it after I nearly teared it down the last time I went there!"

Everyone sweatdropped at his response.

"Once free from those, we'll just need to use the tunnel to reach a small bridge underground that'll lead us to the room where a teleportation device is set up and use it to escape." concluded Rob.

"But Rob-jiisan how do know about the room and the device?" questioned Jellal with a puzzled expression.

"Hmph it was years ago when we first heard of it. Since then it took many trips to the underground but thanks to the detection magic Faria teached me I managed to confirm its existence and to get a rough idea of its location." replied Dantès in place of the old man.

At which a sudden and terrifying revelation came to the little girl.

"W-wait Dantès-niichan, are you saying that you purposely caused problem so that you could be sent to the 'test' chamber?!" .

No words, just a smile came from the silver haired prisoner, as if confirming her theory, as if everything so far went according to his calculations.

At last it was time, time to break those chains that have been bounding them for so long, time to regain their torn wings and reclaim their freedom, time to leave behind that Hell once and for all.


	5. Prison break

_A new chap, and longer than usual. Argh, it took my all to write this! But still, I think it came out well :) Please enjoy it._

_Oh, by the way I decided on a publication schedule. I'll post a new chap every Friday, so look forward to it._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail nor any character from Type-Moon verse._

* * *

**Prologue 2 (part 3)**

* * *

Darkness surrounded the place as night fell upon the world. It was silent, no voices nor any other sound could be heard around at the exception of steps.

Many steps echoed through the long tunnel, each one followed by a heavy breath and sweat drops dripping down on the ground.

Faster, they needed to be faster or else they would be lugs were burning, their throats were dry and their bodies, covered from head to toe by mud and filth, were worn down from weariness. It was difficult to stay focus, all four of them were on the blink of collapsing.

And yet they still kept running, running toward their future. One last final push and they would reach it. It was finally within their grasp, their beacon of hope and salvation was finally in sight.

It really felt unreal, like a dream coming to life. Was it a miracle? No, it was no divine intervention. Rather it was their hard work, determination and will to live that made it happen.

* * *

Dantès was in a good mood. So far nothing unexpected happened and everything went according to their plan.

The ruckus he created in the morning to allow the theft of the key, Jellal's success despite the meager chances and the initial doubts, and the escape through the tunnel. It all went smoothly.

Speaking the truth, Edmond was not someone that put much faith in other people, especially when dealing with important tasks. He would have rather not entrust the mission to the boy at all, but the situation did not allow otherwise. To his distress, that had been the only option left.

Thankfully, his gamble paid off and the blue haired kid succeeded. Despite his fears, the child did not disappoint him.

As he watched Jellal running alongside him, he could not help but reconsider his early judgement. He had thought of the boy as nothing more than a little wimp at first, but, when the need arose, the brat proved to be very reliable and displayed a great resolve and braveness.

Behind him there were also Erza, with whom he had strong bond overtime, and Faria, who was both his teacher in Magic and his best friend.

He probably would never admit it loudly, but those three trully held a special place inside his heart. The time spent with them was a tresure he was going to cherish forever.

* * *

It was almost time, soon the guards would come in their cell to bring them to work. Once discovered the hole and alarmed the entire facility, chaos would break loose and beasts would be sent to chase after them. Armed magus were sure to either bring them back or, in the worst case scenario, kill them off for good.

But there was still time. No need to panic, they just needed to hurry up and cross the bridge. On the other side, they would be safe. Still, they needed to be cautious of the magical sensors scattered around the place and so no magic was used.

Erza's heart was beating fast, blood pumping all over her tiny body as she exerted the last bit of her strenght in her weak legs.

'If it is a dream please don't awake me' she prayed as she stared to the three people around her. It felt like yesterday when she had resigned herself for a short life, alone and as a slave, and now she was surrounded by her new family.

It was not like she didn't cared for her old family, but, at a certain point in time before being imprisoned, she had lost her memories. The Erza that existed before was no more, only the name left in her memories remained. Right now this was where she belonged, her future was together with them. After all, it was the meeting with Jellal and the other two older prisoners that helped her overcome her solitude and gave her a reason to live.

She grasped for air as she stopped for a second, hands on her kneels as she prepared herself for a last sprint. They were half way through the bridge, just a few meters left before the room. She could see it, almost feel it. The freedom was there waiting for them.

But as she started to move again, an uneasy feeling, like a sort of sixth sense tingling in her head, alerted her that something terrible was going to happen. She turned around, but it was too late.

* * *

'Why, why did this happen? Why must destiny be so cruel to me?' thought the boy as tears started to fell down on his cheeks. Confusion and sadness was filling his mind and heart.

Jellal could not understand why someone would go to such a length for him. He was just a normal kid, talentless, weak, and a coward. There was no need to do so, no need for him, he was not important.

First were his parents, who sacrificed themselves so he could escape from the village. Yet he failed them and ended up being captured.

Then his friends, who trusted him to lead them to escape. Yet he could not, and they died because of his mistake.

And now the person he considered a grandpa covered for him, shielding him from the fire ball that otherwise would have killed him, and got heavily injured in the process.

Again someone got hurt because of him. He felt powerless and useless and his soul ached painfully.

'Why, why must this happen to me, to us? What did we do to deserve this? ' and many other unanswered questions echoed chaotically inside him as he screamed the old man's name, "Rob-jiisan!" , while trying to support him.

"Haha...hahaha...hahahahaha, did you filthy trash think even for a second that you could fool us, that it was so easy to escape from the Château d'if? Not even in your wildest dreams, you piece of shits!" came a voice from the direction of the attack, right behind them.

There was a mage wearing a white robe, probably the leader of the guards, followed by many others dressed in black. In front of him there were some demonic beasts, whose ferocious and eager fangs were ready to sink in some flesh. And mechanical angels, knights of steel with magical purple wings, appeared in mid air from all directions, arrows of light nocked on their magical bows.

* * *

It was the end, enemies were everywhere and there was no way to escape. The kids were just too shocked to even worry, and Rob was in no condition to attempt anything.

Dantès gritted his teeths and charged magical energy from his circuits.

What should he do? Should he fight? No there was no chance he could win. He did not possess the power nor the experience to face such an army. But was there anything else he could try? Many options came to mind, yet none would end well. Was it really the end? Were they bound to be kept there forever, like disposable toys, and to never see the light of tomorrow? No, it was stupid to even believe that the incident would be simply be forgotten. The possibility of ending up as food for those cursed pets was high.

But how had they been discovered so quickly? The plan had been executed perfectly, Edmond had made sure to not alert anyone of it and no traces of their escape were left. He was almost sure to have done no missteps. Then how exactly did the guards come to know about it?

As to make fun of him, the mage in white pointed a finger toward Erza and laughed.

"Hey, you silver haired bastard. I can tell from your face that you didn't expect us, did you? You may have thought to be clever, but you're not! Indeed I must admit you did well to erased all your traces, from the collar to the magical circle under your skin. But have you forgotten that you' re not the only test subject here with a hidden mark?!"

All mages followed by laughing loudly and viciously, enjoying the misery and desperation that were showing on the face of the four 'pests'.

Dantès could not belive how foolish he had been for making such a mistake. In his haste, he had missed such an important detail. He had been far too overconfident, and that confidence was now their ruin. While cursing himself for his stupidity and ingenuity. He felt ashemed for the cocky attitude he had displayed, and was terribly sorry for having screwed up everything.

Erza, meanwhile, could only stare at the void, helpless and remorseful, as her kneels failed her. She knelt down on the floor abruptively, regrets was eating at her soul for having ruined their escape even thou unintentionally.

And then a rain of light beams fell on them, ready to tear them apart. Death was approaching in the form of hundreds of magical arrows. There was nothing that could be done to prevent the impeding disaster that was about to fall. Their brief moment of hope was over. The grim ripper was coming for their lifes as the door to the other world opened up in front of their eyes.

As Edmond blinked, all his life rewinded in a flash. Yet, when his eyes opened up again the next instant, he was still breathing.

The arrows never reached the intended targets as, instead, they collided with a giant, multi-layered shield made of branches that burst out of the ground and covered the prisoners.

* * *

"Cough cough, are you lot ok?" asked Rob.

Incredible, but true. At the last second, the old mage had used some runes to summon a barrier even with that nasty wound on his back.

"O-ojiisan I'm sorry!"

"S-sorry Rob-jiisan..."

Both kids hug the old man tightly. They didn't dared to let thier hands go, fearing that he would suddenly vanish in nothingness, never to be seen again, if they let the embrace. It really felt like it was his last moment before dying.

"...Sorry Faria, all those years of work wasted because I got careless. Just when we were so close...Damn it!", anguish and regret filled Edmond's voice as he cursed himself.

"Now now, don't anguish yourself. Anyone can make mistakes, it is in our nature as human being. We are not perfect, but that 's why we strive to improve. It's from the mistakes that we learn the most after all. So don't be sad, neither you nor the children are at fault. We just got unlucky, that's all."

But Dantès could not bring himself to forgive his error. He had failed them, their doom was a result of his miscalculation. He was to be blamed.

"N-now what do we do? A-Are we really going to d-die?" murmured a scared Jellal, his entire body trembling unceasingly.

"...", nobody knew. They had managed to survive somehow, but it was just a matter of time before the inevitable happened.

Rob smiled at the three youngsters beside him. In truth there was a way, but he knew the children would have not liked the idea. Despite that, he could not let them die. Their future was still bright as the sun in the morning and their lives were still brimming of many possibilities.

"...Hey Dantès, my old friend, it has been a pleasure to meet you. The years I have passed with you, the time I heve spent teaching you, was probably the best part of my life. Even better than those passed in Fairy Tail hehehe..."

"W-wait, why are you saying this stuff all of sudden. What are you talking abou-", and shock hit Dantès as he realized in mid sentence the intentions behind those sad words that the old man just said. "D-Don't tell me y-"

"Erza, you are a kind and strong girl. And Jellal, you are a smart and valiant boy. Despite the short amount of time we have spent together, I trully considered you like my grandchildren if I had any. I hope you two grow up to be fine mages."

"No no no no no, I can't and won't accept it! We'll not leave you behind Faria!" shouted the silver haired youngster. "You were always there for me, even when nobody accepted me. Without you I...I...", he could not finish the sentence as he refused to accept a reality without his teacher.

"It' s the opposite. This old man had given up being a mage a long time ago. When I felt I reached my limit and could no longer improve, I decided to leave my guild, my family, and to retire. I am a coward, a worthless mage, who had abadoned his dreams and was ready to spend his remaining life alone in an old church. It was you who gave me a meaning to my life, teaching you helped me realize that perhaps there was still something that even a person like me could accomplish in this world."

Dantès turned around, tears fell from 's eyes as he clenched his fists and bit the lower half of his lips. He couldn't even look in face the man in front of him. he felt truly pathetic, miserable and weak.

"Noooooooo, I don't want. Please don't leave us!" screamed Erza, refusing with all her will to let the old man go.

But there was no time anymore. There was no other way, no other options anymore.

* * *

As the shield cracked open, Dantès grabbed both children and dashed out. His body, charged with electricity, moved like a blue bolt toward the other side of the bridge.

He was fast, but for some reason not as fast as usual. He was moving slower than what he normaly was capable of. Was it because he was carrying someone else? That was probably part of the reason, but still that should have not impacted much on his speed. Did it have something to do with him, then? Physically he was ok and his magical circuits were operating at full power. That left his mind. His head was full of doubts and his soul was torned by his choice. He was not thinking clearly, and somehow that was influencing his Magic.

Projectiles were fired on the order of the mage in white. He evaded some, and could have avoided all if he was in top condition, but right now it seemed really unlikely. Luckily, he didn't need to do so as all arrows suddenly turned in ash.

* * *

Rob tapped a rune he wrote previously on the ground with the palm of his hand. Following its activation, many more runes appeared in mid air, parallel to the bridge, forming a big circle that served as the base for a huge blue dome. Said dome was a powerful boundary that engulfed nearly all the surrounding space and temporary prevented all the enemies trapped inside of it from using any type of projectiles, be it magical or physical. He then called out a wooden rod from the soil and grabbed it.

" Your not going anywhere as long as I stand here. If you want the children, you must pass through my dead body!"

"Gggggrrrrrr, so be it! Mechanical angels, switch to melee mode and destroy this old fossil!" and so they did.

Armed with swords, axes and spears, those winged knights flew toward him all at once and attacked him. But while their numbers far outnumbered him, none of them managed to land even a single hit.

A few traps previously set by him generated pillars of flame that turned a bunc of angels into melted steel. As the rod's both ends got coated in flames, he smashed another bunch.

Demonic beasts were sent against him, but could not even reach half way that some branches came out from the bridge and crushed them like bugs.

The enemy mages lifted up their rods and started their long incantations, but were quickly interrupted by fire balls he created through the use of some quick drawn runes. Upon impact, small explotions happened and smoke arose.

"Ha fools, runic magic does not need long ass incantations!"

As he kept dodging, he turned his head slightly toward the entrance to the room were the teleportation devise was kept. Things were not going well, despite him being in slight advantage at the moment. His magical output was quickly diminishing, his stamina quickly lowering as fatigue started to accumulate. There was nothing more an old man of his age could hoped to do, that was his physical limit. Yet, despite the ending being already decided, he still continued to fight, to struggle in order to buy some more time, even a few more minutes, so that the youngsters could escape successfully.

Then something sharp came. A pair of golden blades were launched through the smoke. It seemed like the dome started to lose its effect, but it was within his calculations. As soon as he noticed of the pointy objects, Rob summoned a wooden hand to intercept them. It should had been enough, mere swords could not hope to pierce his ceation. Unfortunately, they instead easily passed through it and cut his left arm, sending it flying. Now that he took a close look, they were not swords but instead the tip of some chains.

His body rolled back, and many weapons struck him down.

"Look at you. To think that you would lose against this pathetic old man. I'm not really surprised since mankind is a total failure, but still you managed to lower my expectation of it even more. I really can't understand why 'he' would use such weakling trash like you to guard the prisoners, especially the 'candidates'." said suddenly someone from behind the mage in white, with a cold yet calm voice.

It was him/her that sent the chains. The presence and the power emanated by him/her were otherworldly to say the least. The air around the place suddenly tensed.

Nobody dared to even look, much less speak a word. Only the leader tried, "S-Sir-", but got interrupted in the middle of the sentence.

"_My magic is a Cage of Flames. A flaming yet verdant giant._"

Suddenly an incantation could be heard all over the underground. A spell was being used, but who was it? As to answer the question, a loud laugh could be heard. It was the Faria, he was still alive although barely. Blood was coming out of his mouth and colored his long beard of a deep red. What seemed to be his corpse turned out to be just a double made of wood.

"Don't underestimate me. I may be an old man, but I am also a mage of Fairy Tail who once was called Mystogan. And this is my ace in the sleeve, my final trump card!" he stated as he continued the incantation.

"_Retribution._" and the entire bridge got covered in flames.

"_A shrine that purifies the soil of human affairs._" and a hand, no an entire body made of branches rose up from the burning ground. A giant covered in fire, itstorso an emptycageusedto imprison sacrifices as offerings.

"_The one who destroys, Wicker Man!_" and the creature stood up, ready to rampage through its creator's enemies.

"Ho oh, impressive. But still not close to get me serious, human." come the reply from the newcomer. More chains got summoned as to meet the challenge, lightning sparked around them as they started to appear everywhere.

And so the two clashed. As the fight between two powerful forces proceed, the energy waves unleashed from each exchange shacked Heaven and Earth and the wind and fire started to destroy the entire area.

* * *

-A few minutes later-

Their green, cold eyes gazed upon the pond of flesh that was once an old man.

Anyone could tell at first galnce that there had been a great battle from many craters that were left everywhere and the current condition of the bridge, which got nearly teared down .

Yet their face looked stoic and indifferent, as if what just happened was no more than a game and of little concern to them. They then let out a small sigh.

"Stop, don't bother searching for them. By this point they have probably already left this place. And don't think that you can locate them with the same trick twice. Humans may stupid and foolish, but they are not brainless." they ordered, to which the mages stopped the pursuit. There was no more reason to farther waste energy and time. After that they just walked away, ignoring the guards who were left speechless.

"...W-what do we do now with this corpse?" asked someone.

"...Bring it back with us. Master Roa may have a use for it. After all we can't just return with empty hand..." replied the leader, as a small sadistic and evil smile shaped on his face.

* * *

-Meanwhile, on a beach far away from the island-

The cool breeze of the wind, the salty smell of the sea and the sound of waves woke up Dantès from his slumber. As he opened his weary eyes, he found himself in a place full of sand. The sky was still dark, with glittering stars surrounding the big, shining moon placed in the middle of the night. There were rocks and trees a little ahead. Where did they end up?

Since he had imputed random coordinates to the teleportation device before activate it, it was not much of a surprise that they were relocated in an unknown location. After all, there had been no time to think properly and it felt like the best solution to not be followed. Still, it was a problem. Not for him as he could managed for himself, but the kids would not. In their current state of mind and body, they needed help.

Edmond took a deep breath and relaxed his tensed body while reorganizing his messy thoughts. Then something moved though the bushes in front of him. An extremely short, elderly person, who was wearing black pants and a white tunic under a formal coat of the same color with fur around the edges, came out.

"Who are you?" asked bluntly Dantès, his voice rough and aggressive.

Whenever it was a foe or not he was not sure, but he didn't want to risk. And so he activated his circuits, mastering up all the magic he had left in his body.

"Oh me? My name is Makarov, Makarov Dreyer and I'm a mage. I'm here because I sensed a sudden peak of energy around this place, so I came to check since I was nearby. But to think I would bump into you three, what a coincidence hahaha." replied the old man while scratching his head.

It didn't seemed like Makarov harbored any bad intention toward them, so Dantès lowered slightly his guard. For some reason he could tell that the old man was not a bad person. And his name, he was sure to have heard it somewhere before.

"...Wait, you are the guild master of Fairy Tail?"

Now he remembered. He had heard it a lot of times in the past from his teacher.

"Mmmhhh seems like you know about my guild. Yes, I am."

"...Then can I leave those two children in you care? They need help, a place to call home and someone to look after them. And I am certainly not that person..."

It was the most logical choice and the only way to assure that those two kids would be fine without him around. What he was going to do from now on was something he didn't want them to see. A path full of blood and destruction was what awaited him in the near future. Faria hoped for them a better tomorrow and so did Dantès. After all, deep inside he really cared for them.

"Are you sure of this?"

"...If Faria said that your guild is an amazing place then it must be true..."

"Rob?! Where is he? Is he ok? I haven't heard from him in ages."

It had been a long time since Makarov heard that name. The master of Fairy Tail and the old druid used to be great friends and drinking buddies. The last time they saw each other was right before Rob retired as a mage. Since then, he had tried to contact the man many times but without success. Thinking back at those days made the old man smile a little.

"...", no reponse from the young man.

So Rob had died. It was not like Makarov hadn't prepared himself for this. But still he couldn't help but feeling like a part of himself just died. One of his children, a member of his guild had just died unknown to him. He felt somewhat responsible, even if he wasn't.

"...Ok I'll look after those two, but what about you? You know, you can always join Fairy Tail as well."

"...No this is not my path. This is not my destiny but theirs." stated Dantès as he gripped his fist. He was going to make those bastards at the prison repent for their sins, and then it would be the turn of those that helped them. If nobody could do nothing, then he would do it with his own hands. "My journey is not with them."

His eyes sparked as his expression became darker. What he needed now was power that could allow him to exact his revenge.

"...It may not be my place to say this, but accept a humble suggestion from an old man. Don't let anger and despair cloud your view. I saw many with those same eyes of yours, and they never met a good end."

As if ignoring the old man's warning, Dantès turned around and started to walk away. He now had a goal and if he wanted to succeed, he need to dedicate every second he had to improve himself.

"...I'll not stop you. But let me ask again, are you sure of this? Remember that's Hell you're walking into..."

"I was already in Hell, old man. Now it's time for revenge!"

He was not going to back away. He had nothing more left on this world and revenge was now his sole purpose in life. The weakling called Edmond Dantès had died on that island. The name had no longer meaning to him. He would became the very embodiment of vengeance and let his enemies know the pain he suffered. They were going to experience so much fear that no amount of plea would save them, and their souls were going to burn beyond nothingness.

"One last thing. Can I ask for your name?"

"...Call me Avenger!" and with that he vanished in a lightning.

* * *

_Author's note:_

_Don't you love badass old men? I sure like them XD _

_So, what did you think of the fight? Hope I got it better this time around_. _Trying to find a beta, but still no success. Seems like for now I'll need to do things on my own._

_Initialy, last chapter and this one were supposed to be one but I wanted to give you more time to know each character and better explore their relationship with each other. Especially Rob since I wanted his death to be as memorable as possible. _

_Before anyone asks, yes Roa is the same as the one in Tsukihime but with a slight different backstory. Hope I can portray him well._

_And lastly the being with green eyes and chains. No need for me to say who they are right? But why are they there? Well eventually it will be revealed._

_H__ave any question/suggestion or even just want to let me know what you think of this story so far? Just leave a review. I would be really delighted_ _and it would give me more motivation to keep writing._

_Well this is all from me, see you next time!_


	6. New Home

_So into the last part of prologue 2! Next time big time skip and start of arc 1 so look forward to it :) Have something to say to me? Leave a review! (I would really appreciate it) Plese enjoy this chapter!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail nor Fate/stay night._

* * *

**Prologue 2 (part 4)**

* * *

Magnolia, a merchant city with a population of over sixty thousands inhabitants. It was a small town located in the southern region of Fiore, near the sea, and was the house of one of the strongest and oldest guild in the entire Kingdom, Fairy Tail.

It was breathtaking. An amazing place full of wonders were many different people could interact, talk and even laugh happily with each other. No longer slaves in a dark pit, but rather welcomed in a colorful house brimming with joy and kindness. A world so different than the one they knew previously, so strange and yet so beatiful. 'A home for those in need and a family for those who want it', those were the words used by Rob to describe Fairy Tail. Erza and Jellal thought they were dreaming because they couldn't believe what happened. To think they would ended up near Fairy Tail's headquarter among all the places in the world.

They were told that it was the master, Makarov Dreyer, who has found them on the beach, fainted and injured. Since at the time nobody was beside them, he decided to bring them back in the guild to treat them.

At first they panicked because Dantès was not there. They feared something bad happened to him and so tried to rush outside to find him, but Makarov and the other members of the guild stopped them. Without informations on his location there was no way to track him. They could only hope that he was ok.

Then, once things calmed down a bit, the master accompanied them in the guild's infirmary.

They were both silent, still sad but with no tears shed. They would not cry neither falter. They would not let sorrow and despair plunge their souls in the abyss of darkness. They needed to be strong. That was what old man Rob would have wished for them if he was still alive.

"Don't worry, you two will be fine." said the young woman in front of them with a calm and reassuring voice, like that of a caring mother.

She had beige braided hair, red eyes and a military uniform of the same color with a black skirt. She was the head nurse, or at least that was what Makarov called her which was technically correct since she was the only nurse in the guild.

"It's going to hurt a bit, but please endure it. No, let me correct myself, you must endure it. Don't worry you're still young after all."

A strict and disciplined person, like a soldier in a battlefield. That was their first impression of her.

"Is everything ok? " came suddenly the voice of the master as he barged in the infirmary.

"Master, don't come in here in that unsanitary state when I'm treating someone!"

As those harsh words came out from the nurse's mounth, the old man suddenly jumped back and started to sweet feverishly.

"Y-yes ma'am!" answered Makarov while covered in fear.

"Mmmhhh master now that I think of that when was the last time you had a check up on your health?" asked the nurse with a serious and imposing expression on her face, as if no lie could go unnoticed under her attentive gaze.

"A-A month ago I think..." murmured the old man.

"Master, that won't do! What if you had a sudden heart attack? You can't ignore your own health!"

"O-of course not! It was just lately you had so much work and so I didn't think it was an urgent thing to bother you..."

He tried to come up with a persuasive explanation, but in vain.

"Master, your health and that of the guild members always came first and utmost. "

An angel. She was like one of those pure and holy creature that served God, a candide soul who watched over the guild like a guardian and won't hesitate to help anyone in need of medical attention.

"N-Nightingale!"

Tears of joy came out from his eyes as he hug her, his heart filled with pride for the girl in front of him.

"And so I'll have you examinate immediatelly! If needed, I'll personally trasplant a new heart for you Master! Don't worry. I'll make sure you'll live no matter what, even if I have to kill you first." added Nightingale.

She was dead serious, meaning that she would do exactly what she had just stated by any means.

"Nooooooooooo please spare me!" screamed the old man while running away.

"...Seriously he must take more care of himself, especially at his age, when the body is far more exposed to illness."

She then realised a deep breath, slightly annoyed at the old man's behavior.

"All right if you're finished, get out of here! My next patient is waiting!" and with that the two kids, scared as little cats, run off to the guild's main hall.

* * *

-Some time later-

It was a normal office room, one like many. Its size was not particulary big and there was only a big window. Nothing of value nor precious was kept there, only the usual stuff that one can find anywhere like an old bookshelf made of wood in which many old and dusty books were stored, an old desk also made of wood on which many pieces of paper lay around and two sofa in the middle of the room. No fancy stuffs or magical items. Really a plain and simple work place. Tho there was something peculiar on the right wall, a small board in which many photos were attached. Those were the precious memories of each member that was or had been part of Fairy Tail.

Inside said room, usually used by the guil master to take care of the many bureaucratic affairs of the guild such as its finances or the many job requests, Makarov was talking with an other member of the guild, the head doctor of the place. The man in question had orange hair collected in a ponytail, green eyes and was wearing a white and azure coat. He was sitting on one of the sofa, some paper on a hand and a cup of coffee on the other hand.

"So how are the children, Doctor?" asked the old man while looking outside the window behind the desk, watching the many kids of his guild playing with each other under the sunny sky. Unfortunately the two newcomers, Erza and Jellal, were not with them. Recently the two started to train on their own in the small wood near the building so he suspected they were there again.

"They seems ok. Physically they have fully recovered, but their minds need more time to heal. I just hope that nothing like that ever happens to them again."

"For children of their age to experience such a cruelty..."

Makarov had lived a long life so things like this weren't certainly new to him, but still each time was difficult to accept.

After a moment of silence, he then turned around toward the doctor and resumed the discussion.

"So about that thing you were looking for, did you find anything?"

The doctor put down the paper and sighed.

"No, unfortunately nothing new came out from my research. But don't worry I have no intentions of giving up so easily."

"So still no traces of the tablet…."

The tablet of destinies. Legends said that king Gilgamesh wrote it right before his journey. It seemed like its content was a prophecy about the future. Nobody knew what was wrote on it, not even the King of Heroes himself, as it could only be read by the 'chosen one'. Its location was still a mystery to that day.

"About that I was thinking of going to the Cedar Forest myself to look for it, if it is ok with you master."

"Always working to the bone and never taking a moment of break eh, Doctor? Working hard toward our goals is a good thing, but you know sometimes you should really try to enjoy your life. After all nobody wants to die from overwork, right?" said sarcastically the old man.

"Ah haha maybe your right, master." replied the doctor while scratching his head. " But still this is the only thing I can do. This guild, its members and you master have gave so much. You welcome me as a family member despite my questionable background and thanks to you I got to enjoy for the first time a sense of fulfilment. I am not a talented person nor a good mage, just an average human being among many. Even Nightingale is more capable than me to treat injuries. So what I can give to this place, to you all, is the best of my efforts."

"Did you call for me Doctor? Need help for something? Or perhaps you're ill and need medical attention yourself?" interrupted Nightingale as she entered the room upon hearing her name.

"Ehm no no sorry it was nothing haha..."

"Then please don't call my name unless you need me. Now then next patient Natsu please..." to which followed a cry from the kid named Natsu.

"Gyaaaaaaa please don't kill me head nurse, I promise next time I'll be more carefull so please forgive me!"

"Don't be so childish Natsu, this wound needs to be treated swiftly! If we leave it as it is now, the germs will spread in all your arm and then I'll have to amputate it!And you Gray, don't think of running away! After Natsu, I'll make sure to treat you as well! "

"...", both doctor and Makarov looked at each other and a small smile formed on their lips.

"What you just said, you know it's not true. Don't compare yourself to others. You're you and I'm me. We all have our merits and faults. But that's why we rely on each other, that's what makes human beings, us so special. You should be pround of your results, especially because your a normal person. If anyone dare to say the opposite, I'll kick their asses myself!"

"Thanks, really that means a lot said by you master." and it really did. To have someone show appreciation to his work and praise him for his efforts was something that he had never known in the past, but that he came to like.

"Hahaha your welcome. And here, take this. You'll need it if you plan to go on a long trip." and from a drawer the master pulled a small but heavy brown bag.

"What is this?"

"Money. I knew that such a day would come, so I put away some from our finances."

"But master aren't our finances in red at the moment?" and it was partially true.

Sure the many quests guaranteed a steady income for the guild, but the destruction of public properties and the many complaints that followed them always made Fairy Tail to be in finance difficulties. But thankfully lately things were better as damage had been contained to an extent so taking a small amount of money was not really a problem. And even if it was, Makarov would take responsability as it was for a good cause.

"Shusss don't worry, I'll somehow deal with it. Just take this and be sure to come back safe. And don't use them to buy merchandise of that idol of yours. What was her name? Mari Mari?"

"Magi Mari, and she's not just any common virtual idol, but the best and cutest of all!" corrected the doctor, acting like the huge fanboy he was.

"Ok ok whenever. Be carefull and good luck with your journey, Romani Archaman." and with a wave of his small hand and huge grin on his face, Makarov bid farewell to one of his family members.

But it was not sad as it was no goodbye, but rather a see you again. It was not like they would not see each other again, even if years would pass before that would happen.

"Likewise master Makarov." and with that the two parted away.

* * *

_Author's note:_

_And with this we also leave each other for the time being. I'll take a week off so no new chapter next week unfortunately. Need to focus more on my studies because I'm starting to fell behind and also hope to find a beta soon. In the meantime, I'll made small changes here and there in the previous chapters since now I have a clearer idea about the plot of this story. Nothing major, mind you._

_Now about this chapter, nothing new really happened. It is more a epilogue for the 'past arc' and a way to introduce new characters and drop some more information about the plot._

_Nightingale in place of Porlyusica. I like Florence (have her np2 on fgo XD) and the recent interlude that dropped on NA gave me more material to work with her. She's not going to have a prominent role overall, but I'll give some cool moments later on for sure. Also I had a lot of fun writing her hehe._

_Doctor Roman. Argh reading the name already makes me cry. I was quite unsure if I wanted to add him at first because I don't have the confidence to portray him well but alas he has a key role in this story. Hope you lot like how I wrote him. _

**_I'd like to express a sincere thanks to those that followed, favorite or even left a review. (bow down) Thanks a lot for the support!_**

_Well this is all from me, s__ee you guys next time!_


	7. Past sins

_Rejoice for__ here I am, finally back from the break and with another long chap! Thanks for the patience and hope you like it :)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail nor Fate/Stay Night._

* * *

**Arc 1**

**Chapter 1: ****Past sins**

* * *

Day by day the time flew by and so years passed before their eyes. Many seasons and holidays after, everything around them changed. And yet some things remained the same.

Erza Scarlet, also known as Titania Queen of Fairies, was now a prominent mage of Fairy Tail and one of the few S rank in her guild. Through the years she grew into a beautiful woman with scarlet long hair and a slim yet muscular body. Her usual clothes consisted in a custom made armor with a blue skirt and black boots reinforced by steel plates. Her manners also radically changed, from the shy girl she once had been to the strict and charismatic person she was nowaday. Also while in the past she used to work with Mystogan, she recently joined forces with other three mages of the guild, Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster and the newcomer Lucy Heartfilia, to form a new team called Team Natsu.

As for Mystogan, or Jellal Fernandes, he was also a mage of rank S. Having take up the mantle of his 'grandfather' Rob, Jellal spread the name of said druid all over the country in hope that the old man's legacy would never be forgotten. Unlike his fellow member Erza, Jellal wasn't the type that liked to stay in public, at the centre of the attention, and rather preferred to stay in the shadow and guard the guild from afar. His wardrobe mirrored perfectly his personality: a dark blue cloak and a bandana of the same color, a silver forehead protector, a green mask that obscured the bottom half of his face and bandages around his arms and legs. Although not much of a social person, he still forged a strong bond with other members of Fairy Tail, such as Laxus Dreyer, grandson of Makarov and soon to be master, and Gildarts Cleve, the HERO class mage of the guild who was currently away on an extremely difficult quest.

* * *

While the guild used to be the biggest one in all Fiore, in the recent years many old members had retired and with the creation of many other guilds all around Fiore, not many new recruits appeared. This was not to say that Fairy Tail lost its former glory. In fact despite becoming smaller, it didn't lost its former glory but instead become even more powerful as the new generation took the mantle. They were certainly a strange bunch, a guild formed by many people of many different origins, each one special and extraordinary in their own, each one with different magics and goals. Yet they were all together reunited under the same ceiling, under the flag of Fairy Tail.

* * *

It was a day like many, here at Fairy Tail. Everyone was busy on their own.

There were some people looking at the huge board located beside the bar zone in search for a job request. Each quest's difficulty ranged from E to A and the reward for each was in proportion to their level. Higher ranked quests existed and were displayed on the second floor of the building, but they were reserved only to the most powerful members.

Then there were those sat at the cafeteria either eating delicious food prepared by the guild's chief and her nephew or drinking something served by the waitress. Said waitress was a slim young woman with long, white hair collected in a short, upward ponytail on top of her head, blue eyes and was wearing a sleeveless marron dress. Her name was Mirajane Strauss, a retired S rank mage.

And lastly those that were either talking with each other, telling stories of their adventure or discussing matters such as money and life, or spending their time with their hobby, such as painting, reading or even drinking. Such was the daily life there at the guild.

Outside of the building, the reconstruction was proceeding as planned. Yes, the headquarter of Fairy Tail had been severaly damaged some time ago during their fight against Phantom Lord, an other guild of Magnolia. Their guild master, Jose Porla, held a deep grudge against Makarov and decided to assault Fairy Tail and crush its members by any means. They even went as far as using a forbidden spell, the Magical Convergent Cannon: Jupiter. Thankfully the combined effort of Laxus and Erza prevented any big damage to fell on the city and things ended well with the enemy guild defeat and their master being arrested by the Magical Council. Some of its members even decided to join Fairy Tail on the offer of Makarov after the disbandment of Phantom Lord.

Things were unfolding like usual and the atmosphere around the place felt quite and peaceful. Or at least they were supposed to.

* * *

It was around noon when they made their entrance in the guild hall. Team Natsu returned from their trip to Oshibana Town and as soon as they stepped inside the building everyone stopped their activities and run toward them in excitement. They seemed like some celebrities surrounded by many fans. Everything went chaotic in just a few seconds.

The first to enter was Natsu Dragneel, a lean, muscular youngster with a slightly tan skin, black eyes and spiky pink hair. Around his neck there was his most tresured thing in the world, a scale themed scarf gifted to him by his father. At first look he may not had seemed much of a fighter, but in reality he was a powerful Fire Dragon Slayer. Also known as Salmander for his magic, he was both a careless and reckelss mage and a reliable and loyal person to his friends and family, and his determination and stubbornness was second to none in the guild. Alongside him was his trusted partner Happy, a blue skined Exceed.

As soon as he came back, he started a fist fight with an other member of the guild, a tan skinned man with white spiky hair and whose size was nearly double that of the dragon slayer. His name was Elfman Strauss, younger brother of Mirajane, and someone who constantly showed off his manliness to others and accepted any kind of challenge.

Followed Natsu was Gray Fullbuster, an Ice Devil Slayer with black short hair, dark-blue eyes, a black tattoo on his right arm and no clothes outside of his pants. Some would call him an exhibitionist, but the truth was that not even himself knew why sometime he would suddenly strip in public. Cold and ruthless toward his enemies, deep inside he had a kind and generous soul and would do anything for the guild's sake.

While trying to find his lost cloths, he got welcomed by a young woman with azure long hair and eyes. Said woman was wearing a winter coat and hat and was visibly embarassed. Her name was Juvia Loxar, ex member of Phantom Lord. Unknown to Gray, after their fight she developed a secret crush on the devil slayer.

And lastly, right behind Erza, was Lucy Heartfilia. Blonde hair tied in a side ponytail, brown eyes and revealing clothes. A teenage girl who just joined the guild not too long ago and a Celestian Spirit magic user. Slightly prideful in her beatiful appeareance and at times superficial and fearful, she cared deeply for those around her and would not hesitate to help those in need. Once inside, she just went and sat at her usual spot at the bar and started to chat with Mirajane.

As Erza tried to do the same, the nephew of the chief approached her. A small cute girl with black gathered hair, black eyes and a kimono. Behind her back was her little brother in a small pouch.

Erza immediately run to the kids and welcomed them with a warm hug. "Onui! And Tasuke too! How long has been since the last time we saw each other."

"Miss Knight-san, you're back." replied Onui with a happy smile.

"Gaga ga!" added Tasuke from behind his big sister, while gesturing with his small and cute hands.

Once she finished her drink and put the glass on the table, Lucy also greeted them with a cheerful wave of her arm. "Oh ehi Onui-chan, Tasuke-kun we're back."

"There is even Lucy-san here. Hello. Say hello Tasuke."

"Gaga go."

As she kneeled on their level, Titania patted the kids's heads in a soft and kind manner.

"So Onui did you need me for something?"

"Ah yes, grandpa asked me to bring you to the smithery when you come back! " exclaimed Onui as she remembered the reason for her visit, while pointing toward the direction of their house where the chef was currently working.

Said old man was not only good at cooking but was also a master blacksmith. His sword were quite renowned in all the country after all.

"Hmmm, so sensei asked for me...Then I shall not let him wait. You two wait here, it shouldn't take too long." and with that she got up, grabbed the katana in her backpack and started to walk away.

"O-k."

But right before leaving, she turned around and looked in the direction of the Celestian Spirit mage with a grin.

"Hey Lucy why not tell them one of your stories in the meantime? I'm sure both Onui and Tasuke will be delighted to hear it."

"M-my stories?!" said shocked Lucy. Sure she liked writing stories in her free time and it was certainly no news to any of her friends that one of her childhood dreams was becoming a famous writer. She even kept a personal diary and started to write articles for magazines in order to improve her skills. But still she didn't considered her stories to be good at all, at least not at an enjoyable level yet.

Upon hearing the word 'stories', Onui's eyes beamed with stars. She went to grab the blond girl's shirt and begged her to narrate a tale.

"Yes, please I want to hear your stories, Lucy-san. The one you told us last time was really funny, right Tasuke?"

To her and her little brother it was the only way to experience the outside world. They were still too young to go to an adventure and for the time being they were limited to stay inside Magnolia's walls. So hearing their friends talk about their adventures made them happy, especially the little girl who dreamed to be one day a mage herself.

"Come on Lucy, the kids love hear your tales. You don't want to dissapoint them right?" followed Mirajane, who was listening the entire time from the corner of the bar with an amused expression on her face.

Surrounded from all front, she could no longer escape from said situation. Could she refuse? No, not when the children were the ones who made the request. She loved them as if they were her younger siblings and it would be cruel to not satisfy their request. So she resigned herself.

"Ok ok you lot have won. I'll tell you a story. So this is how everything started... "

* * *

It was hot, very hot even tho she was outside of the smithery. The heat of the fire inside the place could be felt vividly even if one was not in the building itself. And the magic, the aura of mystery surrounding the house was certainly quite powerful. A small workshop behind the main building of Fairy Tail, an old cabin that was home for the chef and his family. Not much could be said about it. A simple old style house, not too fancy and kept simple and tidy. The same could not be said for the yard tho. It was full of swords laying around, each one a piece of art. Yet each was deemed a failure by their creator. Katana that could cut through anything from wood to steel, flesh and bones, but failed to 'stop fate, ending destiny and severe karma' as the blacksmith desired. His goal was to forge the ultimate swords that could repel all evil and end all grudges. As she approached, the sound became stronger and stronger, a rhythmic melody of hammer striking metal. Once in front of the door, she knocked it a little but no response so she just came in.

"Can I come in? It's me sensei, I've just returned from the quest. I heard that you wished to see me."

The old man's focus was incredible as he didn't even notice the presence of the girl who just entered. It was like he was isolated from the rest of the world, his work guiding him in a new realm. But was he really old? If not for his grumpy personality, from his appearence alone one could easily mistake him for a young man in his early twenties, not too old from Erza herself. Auburn spiky hair, golden steel eyes and a toned physique. He was barechested, with only a red piece of garment with black tatoo around his left arm and a white cloth leaning on his right shoulder.

As he put the finishig touches on his new craft, he broke the silence and started to talk.

"How many times do I need to tell you to not call me like that? I ain't nobody's teacher, girl. This old man here is just a simple and plain blacksmith, nothing more nothing less."

"Well you taught me how to use my magic so..." and it was true. It was thanks to him that she could develop her powers to the level they were nowaday. His guide proved to be fundamental in her growth.

"I just helped you to understand yourself better since I have a certain degree of knowledge on sword and such. That's all. I haven't teach you a thing, a damn nothing." denied the man while sighing, tired and slightly annoyed by the weird teacher-student relationship between the two of them.

"Well then how did things went with the demon? Hope the sword I lend you proved to be useful." he then asked, curious to know if his work measured up to its task.

Erza returned the katana to him and happily nodded her head. "Yes. The katana sensei forged was crucial to bring down Lullaby. Without it I don't think we could have completely destroyed the creture. Not even my magic could replicate a copy of said sword, at least not a perfect one."

A katana forged to cut casualty, one that was meant to be divine and yet ended up in the realm of demons. A cursed blade difficult to tame and impractical as it can not be used against the living. Luckily a use was found as it proved to being able to bypass the conceptual immortality of those creature called demons.

Upon unsheathing the sword, the smith noticed some dents on its edge. "Mph you really went all out with this uh. Well not something that can't be repaired, but it will take time."

" By the way Makarov has something to tell you. You better pay a visit to him when you're free. Now go. I still need to finish this and then I'll go to prepare lunch for everyone." he then added and with that he once again returned to his work.

"Thanks sensei. Then I'll go to master right now. See you later and good luck with your work."

As his 'apprentice' left, he murmured something under his breath and smiled a little.

"...Look at them, growing so fast. It was just yesterday when she pleaded me to help her and now she have became a fine woman... Hope that some day Onui and Tasuke grown up to be someone like her."

* * *

It was quite noisy in the hall as everybody seemed to be in a good mood, enjoying themselves as if there was some kind of festival going on with laughs and shouts echoing in all the guild. And then everything went silent as the sound of a chair slamed on the floor. Said chair flew in Erza's direction and hit her straight on the head before bouncing on the soil. Thankfully it was her that was hit. She had a tough skull and have reinforced herself with magic just before the impact so no harm came to her, otherwise she could have been seriously injured. Everyone stopped what they were doing and frozed in place, fear running through them as the air in the place suddenly became heavier. She was angry, definitely angry.

"Gyaaaaaa! S-sorry E-Erza, please don't punish us!"

"Y-yes, it was j-just an accident. We s-swear it'll never happen again so forgive us!"

Natsu and Elfman were both with kneels on the ground, asking for forgiveness for their misdeed while doing dogeza. Their duel turned for the worse and the flying chair was an unfortunate incident of the fight. They knew they should have been more careful with so many people around but when things heated up they kind of forgot about it.

Erza knew that it was unintentional, but still it required a proper punishment. They needed to learn to take responsibility for their actions. They weren't kids anymore, but young adults now and needed to behave as such. But before she could utter a single word from her troat, Onui approached her.

"Knight-san, are you angry?" she asked.

Those innocent words held no deeper meaning, a simple question easy to answer normally but not in that moment. Should she give a piece of her mind to the two in front of her? It was the right thing to do, yet raising hands in front of children was never a good idea. After pondering for few seconds, she came to a conclusion.

"...Don't worry Onui. I'm not angry. I was just thinking of sending Natsu and Elfman to Nightingale-san for a little check up. Ah sensei said that he'll soon start to prepare lunch. "

At the name of the infamous nurse, both Natsu and Elfman fainted on the floor.

"Then I'll go to help him. See you all later."

* * *

The door to Makarov's office was wide open and so she entered without much hesitation since normally if the old man was busy, it should have been closed. It must meant that currently he was free.

"Master I've returned from the quest."

To her immense surprise, on the seat were usually the master sat there was his grandson, a blonde man with orange eyes and a lightning shaped scar on his right eye. He wore elegant attire with a dark coat with fur trimming around the neck and the sleeves's edges draped over his shoulders like a cape. Around his head and his right arm there were bandages that covered injuries he got in the recent clash with Phantom Lord. He was looking at some reports when the scarlet-headed girl entered the room.

"Ho oh look at who we have here, so you're back Erza. Tell me how was the mission?" said the man with a grin, as he got up to welcome the female mage.

"Laxus, what are you doing here? "

"What, so surprised to see me here? Well I admit that it is kinda boring looking at those damn papers all day, but doing this is also part of a guild master's job, no?" replied sarcastically Laxus while dropping on the desk the papers he was looking a few seconds ago.

Truth be told he was a man of action and would rather not spend his youth inside an office. But being a guild master didn't mean only being strong. In order to guide the guild both power and windsom were required. In his younger days he had thought that with strength alone everything was achivable and as long as Fairy Tail was Fiore's number one guild any means was acceptable. He even went as far as rebelling against his grandfather and endangering the other members to pursue his goals. Thinking back to those days and to his old foolish behavior, he really felt ashamed of himself.

"How is your arm? Healed?"

He touched slightly his right arm and gripped his fist.

"Not fully, it will take time before I can fight again like before. Tanking a direct hit from Jupiter was a little too much, even for me. Still I should be ok for the time of the yearly Grand Magic Games."

In less than two months the battle for the title of strongest guild in Fiore would start, but by that time he should have recovered enough of his strength back to take part at the competition.

Erza then turned her head right and left.

"Where is master? I don't see him anywhere. Sensei told me master had something to say to me."

An exasperated look formed on his face as he held his head with his left hand.

"If you're looking for gramps, he went to the monthly meeting between guild masters this morning. The geeezer probably doesn't know this since he has been cooped himself in the smith since right after breakfast. Talking about obsession for swords. Not that I'm not grateful for his work, but sometimes he really should pay more attention to his surrounding."

Laxus then went to take out something from a small drawer in the desk and passed it to Erza. It was a letter from her friend Jellal. Lately the two haven't seen each other much so it was a welcomed surprise since she was just wondering where he was.

"Well then about what gramps wanted to discuss with you, I think I have an idea. Here, take a look at this. It is a report from Mystogan."

While most of the message was a quick summary on the situation of the quest he currently was working on, what caught Erza's attention was the last paragraph which contained some coordinates and a single word, a name she could never forget and that invoked a sense of fear and uneasiness, 'Château d'if'.

"I guess you're going right away, right?"

There were no need to think, no uncertainty as there was only one answer.

"Yeah, I can't let this opportunity slip."

Many years spent to search for a lead that could possibly had been inexistent, and finally their efforts were repaid. It was time to confront their past sins.

"Do you need some help? Mytogan is sure to go with you so there really isn't nothing to worry about with two S-rank mages of your level, but still this time things are really dangerous so an extra hand can always be helpful."

"No, this is something personal, something that regards us and not Fairy Tail. I don't want others to be in danger for our sins. Still thanks for the thought. You know, the old you would have never cared for others. You really changed a lot, Laxus." and with that she left to prepare herself for the upcoming expedition.

* * *

Where was she going with that big bag on her back Grey did not know. It was by mere chance that he noticed Erza leaving the guild in a haste. When she was asked, the girl said it was only a trip, nothing serious, but her face, that expression of worry and slight sadness, betrayed her. She ordered him to not question her anymore. Her expression as scary as usual, but this time there was a small hint of seriousness in her voice. He couldn't ignore her, not when he had promised her he would always be there to help her if she had ever needed a hand. And so he came back to the guild hall to find his teammates.

"Hey Natsu get ready, we're departing soon! You too Lucy!"

"T-To where?" asked Lucy.

"Seems like Erza is going somewhere alone so we're going to follow her"

"What?! She left without telling us?!"

Before even hearing a reply, Natsu dashed outside the hall, followed by Happy. And the other two members of team Natsu also followed behind.

* * *

A moment of peace and tranquility after a morning full of work, drinking hot chocolate while sitting on the sofa. Laxus was enjoying his break when suddenly the door broke open violently. As the drink got spilled on the table, he turned quickly toward the entrance to see who was that disturbed his relaxing time and sighed heavily upon seeing Nightingale.

'Of course it was her' grumbled mentally the blond mage. Having lived many years together made him used to those kind of situation when it came to the nurse in question.

"Mister Laxus, have you seen Natsu? I was asked from Miss Erza to have a check up of him and Elfman. I just finished the later's, so now it's his time."

Just some time ago it could be heard the pink haired boy's loud voice echoing in the floor below so it was strange for her to ask his whereabouts. Laxus raised an eyebrow and looked confused by the question.

"Natsu? Isn't he in the hall?"

Nightingale nodded negatively. He was not in town nor in the near wood. She had searched everywhere, even in his house and Muramasa's workshop but no sign of him anywhere. And asking to everyone at the guild lead to nothing. It seemed that even Gray, Lucy and Happy also went off somewhere because there was also no trace of them.

"Strange, I was preatty sure they came back with Erza. Where could he have gone..." and as those words came out from his mouth, Laxus immediately connected the dots and came to a shocking conclusion.

"Wait! It can't be! They can't seriously have followed her to-"

"To where?"

Lightning gathered around his hand as he prepared himself mentally.

"...Don't worry. I'll go grab those fools back immediately, even if I must kick their sorry ass first!" stated the man.

At this sentence followed a violent slam on the table from Nightingale.

"No can do! A patient should rest and not move around careless, much less going anywhere dangerous. I'll go retrieve the kid."

"Wait a moment, it's too dangerous to send you there alone!", but nothing could change her decision at this point. Once she made up her mind, nothing could make her desist anymore.

A deathly gaze came from her, one that even Laxus could not ignore.

"Don't make me repeat myself! Stay here and wait for my return. If you still insist in going I'll punch you so hard you'll not be able to move afterward."

After a few seconds of silence under those frightening red eyes, Laxus completely gave up trying to persuade her. She was right that he was not up to the task and at this point it probably was the only choice he really had. Appearence sometime can deceive and that was the case with Nightingale. She may had been a nurse, but she packed quite a punch.

"Now please, tell me where he went to. There is no time to waste."

* * *

_Author's note:_

_First and foremost, I have decided to use this section to also reply to all the reviews that I have received._

_**emiya unlimited blade work**: Man, I know it's very late but allow me to thank you for being the first person to review. For the story, I'll keep writing at least for now so look forward for more!_

_**Gen2324: **An habitual reader, so shocking! Regarding Merlin, I have big plans for him but he will probably not appear until later on in the story._

_**Dxhologram: **An other constant reader, support much appreciated! Also glad you found Nightingale fun. Since you like her, here some more hehehe._

_**VGBlackwing: **Yeah, I know right? Nightingale is awesome!_

_**Doortolight47: **Well just keep read and you'll find out XD_

_**Journey to the end**: Yup. She'll be a constant reminder for everyone, especially Natsu, to not get injured._

_**tl34lt12**: Hmmm, a long list eh? For Emiya and Artoria, eventually they will appear. Don't know about Iri nor Kiritsugu, need to think some more before putting them in the fic. No plan for Sieg, but both Siegfried and Sigurd will at least be mentioned. The Fafnir I mentioned back in chap 1 was the og one by the way._

_**Kensei-1085:** Thanks for the support!_

_Now, time for some info! Being the first official chapter of the story, things are bound to be a little boring. But fear not as the next one will have some action in it._

_For the Phantom Lord Arc, I just skipped it since it has not much to do with the story. But expect some flashbacks from both Gajeel and Juvia._ _Same for Laxus, I'll not write down his arc completely but expect some fragments here and there._

_Grandpa Muramasa just made his appereance in the story alongside Onui and Tasuke, so exciting! (by the way he is 100% Sengou and not Shiroumasa. Emiya will have an other role lol)_

_Well, this is all from me. Want to share some thoughts/suggestions regarding the story? Leave a review! And see you next week, folks!_


	8. Prison assault

_Another week has passed. The editing process is taking a lot, but it certainly is worth it. Please enjoy and leave a review if you have anything you want to let me know!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail nor Fate/Stay Night._

* * *

**Arc 1**

**Chapter 2: Prison assault**

* * *

The sky covered by dark stormy clouds with crows flying in circle over the place, the stench of blood and rotten human flesh that intoxicated the surrounding air and the unmistakable evil aura emanated by that black tower. She was once again there, once again in the Prison Tower.

Even just standing there, near the entrance of the facility, made her sick. A sense of dread and danger was crawling under her skin as she looked up the monstrosity she once helped built, its high piercing the clouds now that it was complete and its walls glowing of a purple sinister light as if it was alive. A horrific and hateful sight she had wished to never see again and yet a piece of her past from which she knew she couldn't escape forever and that eventually one day she would have to face. A place 'beyond love and hate' , devoid of hope and light, where everyone were equally cursed to live an existence full of pain and suffering.

But Erza was ready, she no longer was the helpless child she had been once.

She gripped her fists, forming white knuckles under her gauntlets, and took a deep breath. When they were younger, she and Jellal promised with each other that one day they would have come back to help those they had left behind and to bring to justice the masterminds behind all of this. That day had finally arrived and she was going to keep the promise no matter what.

* * *

Finding the coordinates had proved to be quite troublesome. Many towers, very similar to the one they had been searching for, were scattered all around the country. Each of them had been built by the same secret religious cult responsible for her imprisonment, who had seemingly spread all over Fiore and had been active for many decades. The purpose of said towers was still unknown and any attempt to destroy them resulted in failure. No matter what kind of magic was used on them, even if they were blown to pieces they would still return back like new. The only way to take them down seemed to find the mastermind, leader of that cult.

Reaching there had not been an easy task either. In order to pass through the boundary that protected the island, she needed to embark on one of those ships that regularly delivered new slaves each day to the prison. Finding one of those was like searching a needle in a haystack. They were no common organization, but one that had lurked in the shadow for a long time. They were skilled in kidnapping people and hiding the disappearances, making everything seemed like it was the work of some outlaws or mindless beasts. It took years to locate them, to have this lead, and she would make sure that it didn't go to waste.

Once inside, she made sure to not alert the guards of her presence as she moved around the facility. It would had been easy to take care of all them at once, but wasting all her magical reserves so early without a clear understanding of the enemy forces was a reckless action she could not afford to make. Ten, twenty, and many more mages were sent flying against the walls, hit by her swords and rendered unconscious. No deaths, she would not kill them despite those bastards deserved to die for their crimes. Sensei and master would not accept her becoming a killer, nor would Rob. Still, she made sure to hit them as painfully and violently as possible, that was the least she could do to punish them.

As she run around in the underground and danced around with weapons in hand, she reached the control room where the lacrima that powered the boundary was. A simple gesture of her hand and a rain of blades disintegrated the core of the magical protection alongside the entire room. Without magic, the sensors scattered around also stopped functioning all at once. With this done, it was time to proceed toward the cells.

A raid of Ghoul, Chimera and Homunculus was on her way, but was wiped out almost immediately as she created a black bow on her hand and shooted a storm of powerful arrows that sent them to their demise.

She needed to be quick, there was no time to waste. Each minute, each second was an instant of suffering toward the prisoners she could prevent.

* * *

Nothing on the horizon, only the blue of the ocean and the gray of the sky. A small boat was in the middle of the sea, with four passengers on board. It was Natsu and his friends, who were following the big ship on which Erza got on from afar but lost sight of it when it suddenly vanished in nothingness.

Happy leaned on the edge of the boat and sharpened his eyes as he looked in the far distance. "Hey Lucy haven't we drifted for quite a while?"

Lucy, who was of the same idea as the little blue cat, couldn't help but wonder if they just got lost. "Yeah, I was thinking the same. Ehi Natsu are you sure this is the right direction?"

"Y-Yeah…" replied Natsu, who was barely keeping himself from fainting.

One of the advantages of being a dragon slayer was his strong senses, especially his smell which he could use to trace a person miles away from him. Unfortunately with advantages came also disadvantages, such as feeling suddenly sick upon mounting on any kind of vehicle.

Not sure if the fire mage was still conscious or not, Gray took him by his scarf and shaked him a little. "Ohi get a grip of yourself, we're relying on that nose of yours!"

"Argh, if only we didn't lose sight of the ship, damn it!" the devil slayer then shouted loudly. His patience was at its limit.

"Calm down, Gray."

Lucy was also slightly concerned, but there was nothing they could do at the moment.

"Tsk!"

"I wonder where did Erza went in such a haste. When it comes to her nobody seems know much at all. Sigh I hope she didn't end up in some kind of trouble…" she then wondered.

It had been already some time since she joined Fairy Tail and while she had some degree of knowledge regarding almost all the members, some still remained a mystery such as Erza despite all their time spent as a team.

But Gray didn't seemed worried at all when talking about her.

"Hmph it's Erza we're talking about. She won't be defeated so easly."

"D-don't worry... I can smell her, w-we're near." and as soon as Natsu said that something poped out some miles away in front of them.

"Ah look an island!" exclaimed Happy.

* * *

Once they finally reached land and docked the boat, the four of them went immediately toward the main gate. Along the road there were some people knocked down which, they guessed, was probably Erza's doing. Just when they thought of blitzing through the remaining security forces, more enemies appeared from inside the prison.

"Many guards, and there are some beasts and golems too among them." said Gray as he took a glance from behind some nearby rocks where they were currently hiding.

It really seemed like a small army was gatehered there and it felt quite risky to attack them without a plan, especially since they still didn't know against who they were fighting.

"Who cares?! Let's plough through them!" was Natsu's plan, a suggestion not unexpected from him but certainly not the best course of actions to take and so got immediately turned down by his two other teammates while the blue Exceed flew over the island in search for another way to go inside the structure.

Luckily for them there was one, a small cave at the level of the sea from which they could went in unnoticed.

* * *

Waterdrops were falling from pointy stalagmites on the ceiling, touching their skins as they proceed through the long tunnel. The air was humid and the floor under their feets was wet and muddy, making it difficult to walk. It was dark, not so much to make them completely blind but there was barely enough light to have a general outline of the place.

"So dark...hey flame-head, can you light up a fire?" suggested Gray.

But the request turned out to be useless as soon as they reached the end of the tunnel and entered in a sort of basement, where a lot of wooden cases full of food and weapons were laying around. They were in a large storehouse made of two floors with lamps on the white walls that made it easier to see their surrounding.

But as a result, the suggestion made Natsu quite mad. Being called by such nicknames by the ice mage was not pleasant at all for him.

"Who're you calling flame-head, you ice bastard?!" and the two stared at each other fiercely with magic gathered from their circuits on their hands.

"Stop! It's not the time for this. We need to find Erza before-" but it was too late.

Lucy's attempt to stop their quarrel, before it jeopardized their mission, failed miserably as the guards from the nearby rooms immediately took notice of the loud voices of her two teammates.

"Who the Hell are you?!" they shouted as they threw open the door and rushed inside one after another.

They were all armed of magical enhanced armors and equipped with magic spears and shields. Their number would have made any normal person worry at least a little. But not Salamander.

"Who the Hell are we?!" and ten of them were sent flying, their armors melted and shattered like glass in front of his fire magic. "Open up your fucking ears, morons! We're mages from Fairy Tail!"

"Open! Gate of Lion!" shout Lucy while holding a lion themed golden key. "I'm counting on you, Loke!"

A youngster with spiky orange hair appeared in front of her. The newcomer's name was Loke and he was a high level Spirit, one of the twelve Zodiacs, summoned through keys from the Spirit World in a magic container made of mana. Wearing a pair of azure sunglasses and a formal suit, he made an elegant entrance and defeated swiftly all the nearby enemies that tried to attack her Master.

"Long time no see, my dear Lucy." replied the gallant Spirit once done his job.

They had on their side the numerical advantage. They should have been the one winning and not the other way around. But their teamwork and coordination amount to nothing in front of those mages. One of them tried desperately to call for more troops.

"W-what the fuck is happening?! Call reinforcements!" but failed as none of the remaining men could move an inch, frozen by the Ice Devil Slayer even before hearing the order.

"Let's go before more guards come."

After finally disposing of all the enemies, they run through the many rooms in the lower levels of the prison, before standing in front of a crossroads.

Happy was the first to reach it thanks to his ability to fly. "Uh, there is a crossroads here."

Lucy panicked while looking at each of the three possibilities. "Now which one do we take?"

"Let's split up! Happy, with me!"

"Aye, Natsu!"

She again tried to made her two teammates reason. She attempted to share her opinion on the matter. "W-wait, shouldn't we stick t-"

"Good. Then see you later."

But like always, she got cut right before finishing her sentence.

"-ogether. Good, nobody listen to me. I wonder why I even try to reason with them. Sigh." and with that she took the third road.

* * *

Looking at the bruised child in front of her, Erza couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She brushed the kid's hair and gave him a warm smile while trying to comfort him. He was wiping the tears from his eyes, his body still hurt from the many hits from whips and punches he took from the guards.

"Don't worry you're safe now."

Just a few words of encouragement, but they worked perfectly. His expression lightened a little and his sobbing stopped. He was still trembling, but at least he felt a little better now.

She then turned toward an other prisoner, an old woman.

"Take the child and follow the others. Wait me near the entrance. As soon as I take care of some business in the tower I'll follow you."

Said woman grasped Titania's hands and, with teary eyes full of gratitude, thanked her.

"Thanks, thanks. We would have lived here as slaves for the rest of our lives if not for your help."

"Don't need to thank me. I'm just a fellow prisoner who came to help her comrades in need. Now go." and so the two of them went away.

Looking at them made her remember her childhood. The shadows of her younger self and that of Rob overlapped with the two prisoners as they disappeared in the distance. She then tilted her head. It was not time to be lost in memories.

'Seems like those were the last. Now I need to climb this tower quickly before they discover me.'

She then went up further ahead and ended up in a large mine. A magical cercle was on the other side. It connected the current place she was with the tower above. She looked around, but no sign of life. It was probably abandoned when the construction ended.

She walked there, but at just a few steps from the cercle a wall suddenly emerged from the ground and blocked her path.

She turned around immediately and rolled away, barely avoiding some huge chunk of rocks that were flying toward her.

Hearing the sound of steps, she projected a pair of swords in her hands and got in battle stance. And from the darkness someone emerged.

"N-no, it can't be!"

* * *

At the top level of the tower, in a bright room with wide colorful mosaic themed windows on the walls, there were two humanoid figures.

One was sitting on a huge white throne, a powerful Dead Apostle with long black hair that covered the left side of his face, red eyes and had a white shirt on, opened up to show his bare chest. He was grinning, enjoying the spectacle that was happening all around the island and inside his castle.

In front of him there was a green-haired being. Their eyes were covered by the hair so their expression was unclear, but from the tone of their voice it was clear they seemed at least a bit confused by the situation at the hand.

"Are you sure it is ok to just let them roam around like that?"

"Don't you feel the excitement? I don't know who they are nor it interests me. But watching their struggle and futile attempt to reach me sure makes my blood boil!" replied the Dead Apostle while laughing madly.

An unexpected turn of events, but not unpleasant in the least. He welcomed with open arms that sudden change in his plans.

"But was it really necessary to turn down the seals on the doors?"

"Hahaha it doesn't matter. After all isn't it better having an audience to witness the moment I'll reach eternity? What's the sense of finally achieving my long wished dream if there is no one to see it? Or perhaps are you worried?"

A sarcastic and calm reply came from them.

"Me, worried? Not at all. I just fail to understand you at all. What's so fun to watch some lowly humans is beyond my knowledge. Still as part of my contract, I suppose I'll just have to play my part accordingly." and with that the discussion ended.

They then went down to the lower floors.

"Ah, yes entertain me more. A perfect show to pass time just before the end of the ritual. Such a magnificent evening!"

* * *

_Author's note:_

_A lot of you seem to be under the impression that Jellal found out where Dantés was, but it is not the case. They have been looking for him, but it is very difficult to find a man that doesn't want to be find out. The Count of Montecristo has his way of doing things and in the next few chapters you'll hear more of him._

_**Gen2324: **I love the Muramasa theme, still listening to it from time to time when writing._

_**Dxhologram: **Waiting for Salem release on NA for more info on Sheba before deciding if I should add her or not. But don't worry, our good doctor has already some best pals among Fairy Tail's members so look forward to more of their interactions. And yes, it is only his appearence similar to Shiro. There is a reason why Muramasa is young tho, which will be revealed later on._

_**tl34lt12**: __Kojiro is somewhere, Musashi is somewhere. Will they battle each other, or will they fight togheter? Who knows. Who said there will be no Magnolia Royal Battle? Certainly not me eheh. Items imbued with dragon slayer magic are super effective on those with dragon attributes. Well, no spoiler but a little clue on Emiya's role in the story will be left soon. And lastly, oh God, don't worry. A ship is already planned for AUO, no NTR and one that I haven't seen done by anyone but in my opinion works well XD_

_**Doortolight47: **For that don't worry. She will have more interaction with Fate chara :)_

_**Journey to the end**: Glad you enjoyed!_

**_vercingetorix2: _**_Gilgamesh will become pretty much a leading character after some point, but he will start appear only in arc 2 unfortunately. But don't worry, a special preview of his majesty will be at the end of this arc. His meeting with a certain mage of Fairy Tail will be 'exciting'...ok I said too much lol. _

_This chapter was more 'filler', from the next one you'll see a lot of action. Still I dumped some info, so take that at least. _

_1) The tower around the country are also hidden from the eyes of normal people. They have a function and will serve as part of Roa's end goal._

_2)Speaking of which, a little interaction between him and our clay boy. Like it? The two will probably not speak ever again tho. What is their relation is yet to be seen._

_Welp, this is all. See you next time!_


	9. Natsu VS Fukurou

_Good Thanksgiving Day! Just finished to write the drafts for the next five chapters and I'm soooo tired. Should probably start focusing for the exams lol. Please enjoy and leave a comment if you want to say anything to me._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail nor Fate/Stay Night._

* * *

**Arc 1**

**Chapter 3: Natsu VS Fukurou**

* * *

_It was a green piece of earth under the azure sky, a prairie in a distant mountain region isolated by man. __There they stood, a huge dragon with crimson scales and a small boy with pinkish hair._

_A parent and a child, two souls linked not by lineage nor by blood but by memories and time spent together. Their bond had been forged not by birth but by trust, a family of two different beings from two different species, uncommon for sure and yet not strange. __After all, what is family if not a term used to describe those with which we share experiences, savor life and live under the same roof?_

_Whenever it was eating, sleeping or bathing, the kid would always tag along with his 'father'. Whenever it was magic or common knowledge, he would diligently listen and learn. Whenever would happened they would always stay together. __Or at least that was their promise with each other._

_He couldn't believe it. For his 'father' to suddenly disappear like that, with no trace of him left behind nor words of goodbye for his sudden departure. He seemed to have vanished from the world, from his world. It was then that a void formed in his tiny heart, a hole that would never be filled again. __Was it because he was a burden, because he was weak that he got left behind? The kid didn't know._

_That day many tears were shed and a promise was made. Natsu Dragneel was going to become strong, he would train to become a dependable person and have the strength to protect those dears to him. __Never again he would be weak. He would not let his friends be hurt ever again as long as he was alive. __He was not sure if this was the right path, his 'father' was no longer there to guide him anymore. But if he was there, Natsu was sure he would had approved of his way of life._

* * *

The two of them were flying through the hallway, with Happy on the back grabbing Natsu's vest while flapping his magical wings.

"Hey Natsu, are you ok?"

The fire mage tilted his head slightly and regained his focus. "Uh, ah yes. I was just lost in some thoughts."

"By the way where are we?" he then added.

Thanks to his extraordinary sense of smell, he could tell that they were in the right direction. Unfortunately, it didn't tell him much regarding their current position in the tower. But they could see the end, just a little more and they would reach it. From there they could probably reach the next floor.

And then, from the room ahead, a pair of missiles were lauched toward them.

Happy quickly dropped his partner on the ground and dodged them.

As the missiles surpassed them, they turned into magical particles and disappeared.

"Hey, who was it? Show yourself already!"

As to answer Salamander's challenge, a bolt of light flew in their direction and stopped a few meters in front of them.

It then landed on the floor, and the light dissipated away. From its inside, a strange being emerged out. He was half man and half bird, his lower body that of a common muscled man and his head that of an owl. Some long feathers were also attached to his triceps, like the wings of a bird.

The 'birdman' pointed his index finger at his opponent.

"You asked who I am? Who-whoo! The name is Fukurou, warrior of justice and one of the three most loyal servants of his majesty Roa-sama!" he self proclaimed.

Natsu and Happy were astonished by him. Both showed a certain degree of excitement upon seeing him.

"It's a bird! A bird talking about justice and stuff!"

Catching them by surprise, the 'birdman' suddenly stroke his right fist against the air and shot an energy beam.

"Justice Ho-Ho-Hou!"

The bizzare look of the man distracted Natsu and made him fail to react in time to the attack. The dragon slayer tried to jump to the side at the last second, but unfortunately the beam curved by ninety degree and hit him directly. He got sent against a wall, forming a hole as an explosion followed.

"Natsu!" exclaimed a worried Happy, as smoke arised.

Fukurou looked toward the hole, arms crossed and eyes full of boredom yet still aggressive.

"Who-whoo! So you are Salamander of Fairy Tail? You're weaker than expected. Or maybe I overestimated your ability? Either way, it is time for this warrior of justice from the Death's Head Caucus to strike you down!"

At the name of the infamous Dark Guild, the blue Exceed started sweating.

They had came across said name a bunch of times in the past, when dealing with dark mages like their recent confrontation against Eisenwald. From the rumors, it was said that in the past it existed a Dark Guild called Death's Head Caucus which was specialized in assassination jobs and had been the cause of countless deaths. But they were not supposed to exist anymore. Years back, the Council had sent its army to capture every last of its members and destroy their headquarter.

"Who-whoo! Little one, from your expression, I can say you have heard of my guild. You wonder how can I be here, walking freely while I'm supposed to be in prison, right? Well let me tell you, it's thanks to my lord that I am here today. He is the ultimate symbol of justice and for him I shall kill all who stand on his path!"

* * *

_A distorted view of justice born from the influence of society._

_Since he was a child, because of his owl head, he was ostracized by both his family and all the people in his village. __It was common belief that he was cursed since birth and, as such, was a harbinger of misfortune. _

_Everyone treated him as an outcast. Even his mother looked at him with scarred eyes, and his father used to beat him and call him a monster. None could understand him, people either ignored him or treated him as trash._

_Everything changed when he discovered his talent for magic. With his new powers, he killed both his parents and slaughter anyone who dared to oppose him._

_At first it was an accident, he didn't mean to hurt nor kill anyone._

_But, as people gradually changed their treatment toward him in better from the fear of being killed, he finally understood. With everyone revering him as some kind of lord and listening to every his orders, his eyes finally opened to the truth. _

_Power was everything. Be it money or happiness, with strength, anything could be obtained. The stronger were the one who ruled, and their justice was all that mattered._

_Later on, after killing every sigle person in the village, he joined the Dark Guild Death's Head Caucus. __With the years, he became one of its most powerful members._

_When the army of the Council went there to personally end his guild, he was confident to win against them and be the one to survive the conflict. __But things went differently. In front of the might of the Shinsengumi, nothing could be done. _

_Rather than a battle, it seemed a one sided massacre. __Only two of them were attacking, and yet in mere seconds more than half of comrades were slayed by their blades._

_To this day Fukurou still remembered them clearly, especially the black haired man whose way of fighting looked like that of a demon. The horrifing sight of him on top of a pile of bodies, holding a gun in one hand and a katana in the other. _

_It was a miracle that he and his other two teammates managed to slip away from them._

_The three of them wandered aimlessly for a long time before ending up in that island. __It was destiny, or at least that was what the birdman believed, that lead them to encounter their current lord. He was the one who had showed them the road. __Fukurou was sure that following Roa was not a mistake. The Dead Apostle had power far above his and a goal he found quite noble and rightful._

* * *

"Is this all you got?"

Natsu emerged from the smoke, his fist surrounded by flames.

"What justice? You should feel ashamed of yourself! A guild is a place for dreams and aspirations, not for screwed up jobs!"

Fukurou used his feet as jet propellers and launched himself in a quick assault.

He threw a high speed punch, but the dragon slayer twisted his body and avoided the attack.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

Natsu countered with a claw shaped fire punch that hit the birdman's jaw and sent him back a few meters.

He then jumped.

"Fire Dragon's Axe!"

While rotating in air, his right leg caught fire as he attemted an axe kick.

Just when the boy's heel was a few inches away from the intended target, Fukurou blocked the move by catching said leg with his left hand covered by light magic.

"Die!"

He then slamed the kid on the soil and launched him in the opposite direction, but Natsu adjusted his position in mid air and managed to land on his feet.

The birdman run toward the fire mage with a big sword made of light magic particles tak form in his right hand. He slashed his enemy with the newly created weapon, but Salamander ducked and avoided the swinging

"Fire Dragon's Claw!"

Both Natsu's feet ignited as he flipped forward and, with both hands touching the floor, he spun like a vortex and sent a pair of powerful back kicks to the his opponent's stomach.

"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!"

With both hands engulfed by wing shaped flames, he dashed toward Fukuora at high speed. It was time to end the the fight.

But it was not over yet.

"Missile Barrage Ho-Ho-Hou!"

A dozen of missiles made of light suddenly appeared behind the birdman. At his clap, they all simultaneously launched toward Salamander, who guarded himself by creating a barrier of fire. But the impact still sent the boy fly away.

"Barrage number two ready!"

Immediately after, an other set was launched. But this time it failed.

"Fire Dragon Roar!"

By gathering mana in his lugs, Natsu expelled from his mouth an incredible amount of fire that vaporized the missiles. As a result most of the hallway was now on fire.

Fukuora didn' t gave up and tried another tactic.

First, he flew high to avoid the dangerous flames. Second, he fired a cross shaped beam of light.

"Cross Ho-Ho-Hou!"

Natsu dodged by doing a backflip jump, but the boy's reaction time was not fast enough to intercept the birdman's next attack.

Surrounded by light magic, the light user broke the sound barrier and went to catch the fire mage by the throat and scrap his face against the hard floor made of stone.

He then moved straight to the next room, leaving a trail on the soil with Natsu's head.

Once there, Fukurou reached the peak high and trapped the dragon slayer inside a sphere of light.

Natsu got sent toward the ground like a meteor. The collision created a huge shockwave and the floor cracked.

"Justice Grenade Ho-Ho-Hoo!"

Not wasting a single second, Fukurou proceed to use nearly all the mana in his circuits to create more than fifty huge balls of light magic all around the room.

At his signal, all of them were thrown toward his opponent and created a bright flash.

A small mushroom cloud formed as the walls trembled a little.

It was over, Salamander was sure to be in ashes after that rain of destruction. Or at least the birdman thought it to be so.

A few seconds passed and nothing happened. And then he started to feel incredibly hot.

Fukuora's throat was burning and sweat kept dropping all over his body. Looking around, everything seemed like melting under the unnatural heat. As an incredible amount of mana started to release from the middle of the room, the surrounding air started to burn and the temperature increased at an alerting pace.

Something was going to happen, the birdamn could feel it in his bines as fear run over him.

"Not bad, birdman. Now allow me to show you something!"

Fukurou was panicking.

He couldn't believe that the kid was still alive. How did he survived the attack? The current situation was beyond his understanding. Not only Salamander came out of it with just a few scratches, but he was now more powerful than before. That abnormal amount of power the boy was displaying was just too terrifying.

"Fire Dragon King's Roar!"

A storm of fire suddenly erupted from the ground, its color changed from earlier. Instead of being a mix of orange and red, it was now a deep crimson.

A vast amount of flames engulfed the entire place and even the nearby spaces.

No matter how much those walls were enhanced or how much they tried to repair themselves, they simply couldn't keep up with the destructive power of the attack.

There was nowhere to escape. Fukurou could not dodge it.

He was far too distracted and confused to think rationally. But even in all his irrationality, he still tried to protect himself by using all the remaing mana to create a dozen of magical walls.

But it was all in vain as they shattered like glass upon touching the crimson fire.

Surrounded by those infernal flames, he was sent all the way throught the ceiling and even through the many floors above.

He was now completely naked and all his body was scorched. At last, he dropped down like a wounded bird.

But as it crash down, Natsu stretched his arm up and the birdman's body fall on his hand before squashing like a tomato.

"Eh, what a tough guy. To come out of it with just this level of damage. Still, I need to improve my control over those flames...Well, I'll think about it later. Let's not waste time Happy!"

Tossed asside his opponent, Natsu grinned to his partner.

Happy, who just got there, nodded and grabbed Natsu's back.

As his wings reappered, the two flew at top speed toward the higher levels of the tower.

* * *

-Meanwhile in Era-

On top of the mountain around which the town was built, there was an imposing palace. The building was the headquarter of the Magical Council, an organization which ruled over the Magic World and oversaw every legal Magic Guild within the Kingdom of Fiore.

Inside one of its many rooms, there was a big blue holographic 3d map of the continent of Fiore which was called the Observation Model. Scattered around the room, some youngsters were monitoring the current status of the leylines all over the country.

Two other important figure were also there, discussing among themselves.

One was an old man with a bat shaped ornament on the head.

His name was Org, one of the ten Lord that composed the Council and a student of the Chairman himself. He was a strict and unwavering person, and a master of spacial magic.

The other was a blonde man in his thirties, with a blue scholar coat on.

His name was Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, a wealthy nobleman and also an other Lord of the Council. He was renown for his many researches in the fields of Alchemy, Summoning and in Spiritual Evocation. His most famous achievement was the creation of the Volumen Hydrargyrum, that consisted in a puddle of indestructible mercury filled with magic that could change its shape at his creator's will which many considered it as the 'epitome of mercury magic'.

"And here I was wondering what possibly could old Org want from me to interrupt one of my lessons. So there were some changes in the leylines? It's nothing new." said in a sarcastic tone Kayneth, slightly irritated due to be summoned for such a trivial matter when he was in the middle of a class.

"Sorry for the sudden call. An hour ago a strange magic fluctuation was detected in the middle of the ocean, tho it didn't last long. But if the readings were correct then that was the center of the anomalies that have been happening in the last few decades." apologized Org, while also trying to explain the situation at the hand.

He then pointed at a certain location displayed on the Model and showed some paper to his colleague.

"Hmmm, I don't see nothing there. Are you sure of this?"

Lord El-Melloi had a skeptical look on his face, his right eyebrow rised as to show that he didn't quite trust what the old man had just said. As far as he knew, Org could have simply made a mistake. With his age, it was a concrete possibility after all.

But the old mage kept insisting of been right.

"Yeah, the Observation Model showed exactly that point. I was also quite confused when I saw the data."

"The Model can't be wrong, I helped build it after all."

Kayneth was a prideful man, as expected of someone of his social status, and was very confident in his abilities. He was a genius and as such none of his works could have been a failure, or at least he believed so.

"Have yo tried to go there?"

Org tapped the soil with his cane and some magical scripture surrounded it. They then disappeared just as quickly as they appeared.

"Yes, but it seems like something interferes with my magic."

"Tsk, good! Just now that it is only the two of us here. Well, there is nothing we can do for now. Let's just wait and see. If something does indeed happen as you suspect, then we'll call a meeting and make our move."

* * *

_Author's note:_

_**Dxhologram: **Jellal will arrive soon, it just happens that he was in the other side of the continent finishing a bunch of quests when he acquired the info. _

_**VGBlackwing: **Moriarty will make a small appearence, sort of like a cameo, while for Li I'm still not too sure._

_Ok, we are finally here. _

_First let me say wow to last week's Babylonia anime episode. MOLON LABE! Such beautiful animation and emotional moments. If I ever add either Ushi or Leo, I'll make sure to give each of them as much screen time as possible XD_

_Now, into this week's chapter._

_1)A small flashback at the start. It serves as the first one of many to explore Natsu's backstory and character._

_2)__For Fukuoro I decided to slighly change his power. His abilities are now light manipulation. __I also gave __him__ an original backstory since I don't like how he was used as a folder character in the manga. __I__ don't even know why Mashima insisted on adding him since there were already plenty of other characters to use, but since I am using him I thought that I should __at least__ give him a reason to fight, no? Also i sneaked inside the flashback another servant, try to guess who he is :)_

_3)Natsu has access to the __flames of the __Fire Dragon King Mode. This version is similar to the manga one but has some small differences. At maximum power, the flames are comparable to the ones Karna generates with Mana Burst (Flames) and as such can't be used to __cover __parts of the body since the flesh would be melted by the fire. H__owever t__hey can __be used for Roar attacks, but even then Natsu needs to be careful otherwise they may go out of control._

_4)Kayneth is __also__ in this eheh. With this we get to see a little of what is happening on the side of the Council._

_This is all from me, hope you have a good day. Bye._


	10. Gray VS Ikaruga

_Time to further diverge from canon (hope you like this little twist I made). Enjoy the new chapter and leave a comment_ _if you have anything you want to say to me._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail nor Fate/Stay Night._

* * *

**Arc 1**

**Chapter 4: Gray VS Ikaruga**

* * *

_The boy looked down on his small hands and saw red. The blood of his father, of his mother and the many people that lived in the town were drenching his fingers._

_Sadness and pain overflowed from inside his heart as many negative emotions erupted all at once._

_The image of him and his family living happily in that small portion of mountain were snow fell for all seasons of the year. The smiles of his friends and that of the elders of the place filling the atmosphere around with joy and kindness. The many structures made of wood that were once a part of this beautiful small city. All those things were no more. How did it happen? Why, why, why?_

_He was alone in a nearby forest , playing with the animals like always, when everything happened. He had been lucky that day to be away from the town because that was what saved him from the disaster that befell. His parents used to warn him to not wander too much in that place, but they were probably never more glad that their son had disobey them._

_It was only when chaos had already broke loose that he took notice of the fact and rushed back as fast as possible. But by the time he reached home it was all over._

_His mother was unrecognizable. Disgust and horror took over him when he saw pieces of her body scattered around in what was once a living room._

_His father was laying in the middle of the street, blood coming out of a huge hole on his chest. __The man was barely alive when Gray had found him, and had cried tears of joy at the sight of his son still safe. Despite the many regrets he was having, Silver Fullbuster still managed to smile to his boy and wish for him to grow up into a strong man_ _before dying._

_No sign of life was left. No matter where he looked, there were no survivor. __No one was left beside Gray. He was now alone in that hollow place._

_Just then his vision suddenly blurred and he fell on his kneels. Darkness followed as his eyes closed, and he found himself in a strange place._

_It was an endless hill covered by a white coat of snow. There, up in the sky, grey clouds covered the entire space. And a strong blizzard raged all across the vast land._

_'Did I die? Am I in Hell?' thought Gray as he looked around. __If he was alive he should have been feeling cold, yet he was not. So he had died, or at least that was his conclusion. But he was not sad because at least now he could see again his parents and friends._

_"**No, you're not yet dead brat.**" came suddenly a voice._

_A dark blue skinned creature, covered by spikes all over its body and had a pair of horns coming out of its forehead, stepped out f__rom the midst of the blizzard. __What stood in front of Gray__ was an inhuman monster with large pointed teeth, huge scaly arms and bird like legs. Its overwhelming shadow was looming over him, making him seemed like an ant in comparison. _

_He tried to run away, but tripped and fell on the snow. __Turning around, he panicked under those terrifying hollow eyes. __The otherworldly being struck a sense of primordial fear in him just as their gazes met. __With a high that nearly reached Heaven and a massive body bigger than a common house, there was nowhere for the boy to escape. _

_"**Do you seek power? Power to fulfill your desires and obtain your revenge?**" asked the creature, its voice booming like a thunder._

_'Do I really wish for revenge? But I don't even know who did it!' pondered the confused kid as he touched his heart and grimaced. It felt strange and illogical. He should have been scared of the monster and yet those words that he just heard made him completely forgotten about his situation. He shouldn't be listening to a demon and yet the offer seemed somehow very tempting._

_"**You wonder who you must hate for your current situation, against who you should seek vengeance. The demons from Tartaros, they are the responsibles for the deaths of your beloved ones, they are the cause of the destruction of your village.**"_

_Tartaros, an unpleasant name that evoked a sense of death. So the demons were the ones to blame for all of that had happened, the ones that had murdered his parents and everyone else. He clenched both his hands and gritted his teeth. With anger boiling in him, he looked up to the demon before him, this time face to face._

_"**Why does a demon seek the destruction of its own kin? Because I also harbor a desire for their demise for they wronged me. Now I ask you again, boy, will you forge a contract with me in order to obtain the strength to wipe out your enemies? Or will you simply forgive those that ruined your life and their misdeeds?**" asked again the blue giant as it approached._

_Gray stood up. He pushed himself up even tho he was still trembling and his eyes were still teary. He made his choice. Mustering all his courage and resolve, he made his declaration._

_"H-how can I forgive them?! Those monsters deserve to be punished for their crimes! I-I'll make them pay no matter what, I'll bring down Tartaros even if it means accepting your help!"_

_A strange light glow in his right arm. __As the blizzard got stronger, a loud laugh escaped the creature's throat._

_"**Hahaha. Very well, contract formed! Upon my name Deliora, I swear to assist you, Gray Fullbuster, in your quest for revenge against Tartaros and to follow you even in Hell if needed!**" and everything turned white._

_Awakening from his slumber, Gray found himself again in his town. Feeling a strange itch on his right arm, he looked down and noticed that now there was a strange black tatoo on it. He could feel an incredible power coming from said mark._

_The experience he just had was not a mere dream. He really formed a contract with a demon. The situation felt a little ironic considering that he was going to use the power of a demon to defeat other demons, but he did not regret his choice. He would not allow what happened there to ever repeat again, not as long as he was alive._

* * *

'**Focus, brat. No time to dwell in useless thoughts.**' echoed the deep and rough voice of Deliora inside of him. While not really caring for the boy, their existence was still tied with each other. And so he needed to make sure that Gray would remain alive.

'Tsk. I already know, don't need you to remind me. I swear, at moments I find you even more annoying then Natsu.' replied with annoyance Gray, not the least happy to hear the demon's constant sneaky remarks. Despite the years passed together, he still could not bear having the being inside of his soul at all.

He was currently running in what seemed like a wooden bridge on top of a garden with many sakura trees on the sides. How there was such a place inside of a tower was beyond him, but he rationalized that was probably because of magic.

Then he suddenly stopped as a young woman, with pink, long hair tied in two large buns and a slightly loosen up kimono on, suddenly appeared from a storm of sakura petals.

"Greetings, boy. My name is Ikaruga, leader of Trinity Raven and a servant of master Roa."

The name was not new to Gray. On the contrary, it felt familiar.

"Trinity Raven? Wasn't it a group of mages from a Dark Guild that got taken down by the Council? And who is this Roa you're talking about?"

"Ho oh, such a talkative young man we have here. Indeed I was a member of the feared Death's Head Caucus Guild. But this is all I can tell you. If you wish to know more from me, you'll need to-"

But before she could even finish the sentence, the devil slayer trapped her inside an ice bloke. In doing so, he also froze half of the bridge.

"Hmph. Sorry, don't have time to play around. I have far more concerning problems at hand right now." and with that he continue to walk toward the next room.

But unknown to him, Ikaruga was not in there. The block was empty inside, meaning she had managed to avoid the attack. Not only that, but she also took advantage of the ice mage's carelessness and sneaked right behind him.

"Oh my, such a boorish person you are. Not even giving me time to finish my sentence." and the edge of her blade neared itself to the ice mage's back.

But just when it was about to hit, an ice stake suddenly generated itself from the frozen floor and intercepted the katana in time. Gray instantly turned back Gray. Once he took notice of her presence, he immediately leaped back.

'Didn't need your help, demon.'

'**Oh, are you sure? Just now, without me you would have already been cut in pieces by that woman.**'

"To block my attack, most impressive." said the swordswoman. With an arrogant smile on her face, she changed stance and prepared for the next strike.

She lowered her center of gravity a little and increased the strength of her grip on the hilt.

The mood in the room shifted abruptly.

Now a massive killing aura could be felt from her. From the carefree personality she had previosly, she switched to a more threatening attitude. It was time to get serserious.

"By the way, that was my greetings!"

"Ice Devil's Chaos Charge!"

Gray didn't waste time and summoned a flood of ice spikes that run over most of the bridge and reached the ceiling.

'Thick.' she thought as her sword touched the ice. Ikaruga tried to cut down the spikes, but they were too thick and their number was too high to slice them all.

Quickly changing strategy, she jumped on the border of the bridge and dashed rapidly beyond the ice mage.

"Mugetsu-Ryu Garuda Flame!"

A flaming cut generated by applying magic on the edge of her blade. Gray created a wall of ice behind him, but the haste made him fail to reinforce it properly and the attack bypassed the construct.

'Too shallow.'

But he was ready and immediately followed with an armor of ice that covered all his body that absorbed almost all the damage.

She licked her red lips, smirked and sent a wink to her opponent.

"Mhhhh, not bad. It has been quite a long time since I faced an opponent of you're caliber. And now that I got a better look at you, I must say you are quite a handsome man."

At those words, Gray shivered a little. For whenever reason he felt a chill on his back.

* * *

Back at Fairy Tail's main building, a certain azure haired girl suddely became angry for simingly no reason as if someone was attempting to steal her 'beloved' from her.

* * *

"But unfortunately only one of us can walk out of here alive. So prepare yourself!" and with that she dashed forward.

"Mugetsu-Ryu Hollow Step!"

A technique based on a fast use of her magnificent foot work, allowing her to leave multiple residual image to distract the enemy.

Multiple swords of ice flew at high speed toward her, but each one missed the original and instead hit a clone.

Once in range, her sword fell diagonally and cut the devil slayer's body in half. But to her immense surprise it was just a copy made out of ice. She got outplayed by her opponent who was now behind.

"Ice Devil's Destructive Bow!"

A bow of ice appeared in Gray's hand and dozens of ice arrows were fired against her in just few seconds. She tried to dodge, but in vain.

'My feet!' as she realized that she could no longer move due to the ice around her legs. It was a trap all along and she fell for it so easly. She grimanced internaly as she prepared for the incoming attack.

"Mugetsu-Ryu Yasha Empty Flash!"

A fast succession of thrusts that intercepted most of the arrows. Unfortunately some of them still managed to wond her in the arms, legs and abdomen.

She quickly disposed of the ice around under her and flipped back on the huge stake of ice behind her. Using them as a springboard, she lauched herself toward Gray at high speed.

A powerful and fast thrust was flying in his direction, but nothing he could not avoid.

It was not the end tho. A horizontal slash, a vertical one and then a diagonal one. And many others followed as the woman jumped around like a rabbit, assaulting him from all angles.

With his two stakes, Gray was able to either counter or avoid almost all of them although barely.

'**You should just use my power and end this ridiculous fight instantely. Weren't you the one saying there was no time to waste?**'

'Shut up, Deliora. I'll use the demon power only when I'll face demons, not otherwise. And just to be clear I have a plan.'

It was amusing, her blood was boiling from the excitement. But she knew it could not continue forever.

"Such a passionate exchange of blows. I wish that it could continue forever, but it seems like this is the end. Here I come..."

"Mugetsu-Ryu Weightless Thrust!"

Two powerful thrust, one followed by another at such a speed that they seemed to be launched simultaniously. One to break the opponent's defense and the other to deal the finishing blow. Normally it would had meant the end for anyone. After the first one got blocked, the second followed.

But something strange happened at the time of the second thrust. Her body slowed down incredibly and then it completely stopped before she could complete the technique itself.

"Ice Devil's Zero Slash!"

With his right fist on the palm of his left hand, he created a long katana and with a single perfect cut defeated Ikaruga. Both inside and outside froze down, and all her the internal organs stopped working instantly as her sword fell from her hands.

One of the many abilities granted by his devil slayer status was that of curse manipulation. Gray had use it to imbue the arrows he fired earlier with curses. They worked perfectly as intended, despite having taken more time than expected, by paralyzing the swordswoman's movements and allowing him to deal the finishing blow.

"That...was impressive. In all my life...I was defeated...only once before. Congratulation...boy."

* * *

As she closed her weary eyes, the sight of the nearby cherry blossoms sparked a memory of years back.

That fateful night colored by the red of blood and the pink of the sakura petals came to mind immediately.

A distasteful yet beautiful image of a young woman, holding a katana with both hands, appeared in her mind.

_A delicate, azure flower __with beige hair that merged perfectly with the surrounding storm of pink. A dazzling light that shinned brightly in the dark of the night._

_Her graceful movements made her seemed like a butterfly dancing in the battlefield, each of her steps quick and silent. Her swordsmanship, that seemingly had reached the human peak or maybe even surpassed it, was simple yet marvelous. _

_Each swing of her blade were precise and wasteless. So fast, faster than anything she had ever saw in life. A perfect block followed by a flawless cut._

_An eccentric smile, that of an experienced warrior, and a pair of eyes filled with confidence, that of someone who had walked the path of the sword for all her life, adorned her pretty face covered by drips of blood._

_A feeling of awe sparked inside Ikaruga as she crossed blade with the mysterious swordswoman, and a sense of admiration she never thought she would ever had took over._

_But at the same time another emotion was surging in her. She felt envious, yes envy was eating away her soul as their swords met again. The strong desire to possess such skills started to develop inside her as she parried another strike from her opponent._

_It was the first time in all her life that she felt jealousy toward someone else, but Ikaruga couldn't help it. After many years passed training and honing her swordsmaship, she believed to have reached the peak and that none could possibly match her. But now not only it turned out that the road was still long and that she had accomplished nothing at all up until then, but all her efforts and dedication amounted to nothing against a true master._

_Frustration was building up as their exchanges increased in intensity and frequency, and a sense of inferiority was overwhelming Ikaruga. Compared to her opponent, she seemed like nothing more than a complete amateur._

_She was losing. More and more cuts kept appearining all over her body as she got slowly pushed back. She tried to counterattack, but it was all useless. Against a person gifted by the talent to swing blades and that stood at a level far beyond hers_, _she could do nothing_.

_Could she hoped to reach such a degree of mastery one day? Probably not, not in all her life. Not in a hundred years she could fight as her._

_Having lost her composure, she thought it was the end. She was already prepared to forfeit her life, and yet for some kind of miracle she managed to escape alive from the duel. She survived, yet it left a bitter taste in her._

_Running from a fight was such a dishonor that she had thought of killing herself more than one time. It was only thanks to her strong wish to being able to fight like that sakura headed girl that she was still alive._

To reach her goal she would use any means, no matter what she needed to do.

That's why she didn't hesitate at all to work under a Dead Apostole. With the promise of eternal life, she thought she could eventually perfect her skills even if it would take hundred of years.

She smiled as the door of Hell opened up. How naive she was to believe such a nonsense. Humanity had always being a limited species, but it was precisely because of that that it had always strived to perfect itself. Had she lost the fear of death, her sword would not only become dull but it would eventually lose its edge.

* * *

-Meanwhile, on a hidden tower located in the dephts of a wood-

_A ferocious beast, claded in a mantle of blue lightning and shrouded by the darkness, was chasing him. Its mad laughs kept haunting him no matter were he tried to escape. Its hatred flooded the entire place, like a wave of destruction consuming everything on its path. __Its black fangs, burning of a hellish flame, were ready to purge his soul. And its golden eyes, full of anger, were shining in the midst of the black hallway.__ He was cornered, nowhere was safe anymore._

_A blink of eye and his legs were no more, traded by a pool of red under him. He could not crawl away as__ h__is arms were bare bones. Screaming was useless, nobody could hear him. Not even closing his eyes was possible as he had no eyelids. He could only wait in fear for his death as __his flash slowly started to melt down._

_The monster approached. __Slowly but inexorably, it walked toward him. And then the absolute void._

The mage woke up abruptly. A man was grabbing him by his throat, making it difficult to breath.

The man increased the strength of the grip, nearly choking him. Saliva came out from his mouth as a result.

'What is happening and how did I end up in this situation!' he pondered. He was confused. His memories were fuzzy.

Taking a quick glance at his sides, he noticed there was nothing near him beside the air. Where was he exactly?

And while trying to move his limbs, he realized his arms were no more. Only bones were now left in their place, like in the dream he just had.

"Ho oh, I see you're finally awake, sinner. Allow me explain your situation, wicked soul that knows nothing of kindness. We are currently on the roof of the tower and you are about to experience the fall of your life if you don't tell me what I want to know. So speak up, where is the Château d'if?"

Now he remembered. It was this man that attacked the base and turned everyone into ashes. Like a hungry wolf, the man's 'claws' had teared down everything in the tower, be it a living being or not.

He still could not believe it. A single person managed to take down the entire structure. But after having witnessed the ferocity of the attacks and the inhuman rage that had been displayed, it was no surprise. Just thinking about it made him feel sick.

The mage greeted his teeth, refusing to submit to the 'monster' in front him. His will was strong and not a single word would come out of him, or at least that was his intention.

He spit a ball of saliva as a sign of opposition, but the man tilted his head and dodge it effortlessly.

"I see you still refuse to talk. Commendable, but foolish. I hope you're prepared for the consequences of your choice!"

With that, the grip was left. The mage was falling into the void and his demise was inevitable. Many emotions stormed inside him as the soil approached. Terror and panic filled his mind as death came closer and closer. And then a painfull sensation spread all over his body as he crashed on the ground and blood spilled everywhere. It was all over. Or not.

His eyes shot open as he felt himself falling again despite having just died. What was happening, why was he falling again?

Pulled by gravity, this time from a higher attitude, he impacted once more into the rocky ground. Pain followed one more time as he got smashed again.

And again, again, again and again. He lost count of how many times it happened, but they were at least ten. An undescribable feeling of madness consumed his soul as his skull kept breaking apart and reconstructing more and more times.

"So how does it feel to experience the fall over and over again? How does it feel to wish for a simple death, yet not being able to do so? Do you still wish to remain silent or perhaps have you changed your mind?" asked the man as he caught the mage's leg before another fall happened.

The mage's mouth was wide open and refused to close. Tears dropped nonstop from his hollow eyes as his will got shattered into oblivion. He was void and lifeless, and looked more like a vegetable than a human being. The incredible amount of terror and shock had sucked away all his resolve, and the trauma he just suffered was such that it caused him a severe mental break down. His pants even became wet.

No more than five seconds later, he spilled out every drop of information he had.

"Hahahahahaha. See, it was not so difficult after all. Thanks to you, now I have the confirmation of the island's coordinates. Time to make my move." laughed the man after tossing the mage on the roof, lightning burst out of him as he gathered his magical energy.

"...pleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillme..." kept murmuring the mage, hiis reason clearly no longer with him at that point.

"Hmph, you are far too pitiful to murder. Whenever it is living the rest of your life covered in fear or end all your misery and go to Hell, it is your choice." and with that the man vanished.

The mage was too afraid to kill himself, and yet he wished to put an end to his sufferings. As to answer his prayers, a bunch of hungry beasts emerged from a nearby door. They were the same one he had used against his enemies, and now they were eyeing him with eager fangs. Was it karma at work? It didn't matter. He run toward them and let himself be eaten alive.

After that the tower got covered by black flames that consumed it completely, leaving behind not a single trace.

* * *

_Author's note:_

_First let me thank you all for reading this story and leave so many comments. We are finally beyond the 100 followers. I'm so happy! (maybe now I can aim for 200?)_

_Seems like Kayneth gets a lot of hate lol. The dude is sure a di*k head, but in my opinion he's not that bad of a person. I mean compared to someone like Kirei..._

_**Gen2324**: Eh, right now it's difficult to say if I'll add either of two. And sure, Gajeel is going to have his own version of the king's form. Can't let Natsu be too far ahead of him after all (tho still not sure what kind of abilities i should give him)_

_**Nexxos Highdraco**: Can't really understand Spanish, but still thanks for support :)_

_**emiya unlimited blade work**: Well, I did left a hint for another Council member on the last chapter. About the others, I think two-three more of them will be from the 'Mage Association' but haven't decided yet who._

_**Harbinger of Mayhem**: Thanks for sticking with this story. I'll try to not disappoint._

_Info section reached._

_1)Hope the flashback answered some of your questions regarding Gray. As for how it will influence the story, I let you guess hehe._

_2)Liked Deliora? I tried to model him after Kyuby from Naruto, but less aggressive and more cynical._

_3)Like for Fukurou, I also added a sort of backstory for Ikaruga. Really like her design and it's such a shame she was a folder character in the manga._

_4)Last chapter Hijikata got mentioned, this chapter Okita showed up briefly. The Shinsengumi is starting to show up little by little. Can't wait to introduce the other members XD_

_5)Lastly for those that wonder what happened to Dantés, here he is. Avenger finally has started to make his move._

_Yup, this is all. See you all next week, bye._


	11. Lucy VS Racer

_Sorry for the late update. Forgot to edit this chapter before starting the next one, and was too busy yesterday to do it. At least now it's ready, hope you enjoy._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail nor Fate/Stay Night._

* * *

**Arc 1**

**Chapter 5: ****Lucy VS ****Racer**

* * *

_It was raining nonstop that day. Water kept pouring from the dark sky as thunders roared in the distance._

_The girl was in a graveyard, soaked and alone. Looming over her was the shadow of a stone made praying angel, under which there was a small flowerbed full of colorful flowers that would have looked beautiful if it was not for the terrible weather that made everything gray and sad. _

_She was crying in front a tombstone, knelt on the ground and with the face looking down._

_It was though, tougher than she expected. She had promised to not cry. She believed to have been prepared. Yet she was not. She could not accept it. She couldn't stop the tears from falling on her red cheeks._

_The black dress that she was wearing to take part of the funeral was now ruined, and the expensive shoes that her father gifted her were now covered in mud. But all that was of no importance._

_Why did her mother left her? It was not fare, the world was not fare. Layla Heartfilia had always been a good woman, a generous and kind person loved by all the people around her. She had never done anything bad and had always helped those in need. Yet she still died from an incurable disease._

_And then she started coughing. Not only that, but her senses were slowly becoming numb. And strange as it may had seemed, despite the cold she was feeling incredibly hot. What was happening? Her head hurt and she could barely stay awake. Her mind was spinning and it was difficult to think. Did she caught a fever? _

_Her arms lost strength, and her small face fell on a small pond of water. Her entire body then followed. Around her, everything started to fade away. She had no strength to resist and fell into a deep sleep. But before closing her eyes, she prayed for her mom would come to help her and to take her home like in the old days when she used to sneak outside of the villa she lived in._

_At that moment, a small light came from inside her small pouch. One of the keys, that Layla gifted to Lucy before her death, suddenly lit up. The next moment she felt being picked up and carried like a little princess._

_"Master, Layla-sama would have not wanted to see you in such a state. And neither me nor the other Spirits want to see you sad. It's ok to shed tears for the death of those we love, but don't let it burden your heart. You still have a long life to live, and still many things to learn and experience in this world. And don't worry, for you will never be alone as long as we stand by your side."_

_A voice. Someone was speaking to her, Lucy was sure of that despite not being fully awake. It was a calm and collected tone, one full of kindness and understanding that felt like that of a teacher. Those words of encouragement made her stay at easy as she drifted in the world of dreams._

_It was only few days later that she woke up, completely healed and healthy again. Only after a severe lecture from her father followed by a warm hug, and a sincere sorry to the deeply worried servants that worked in the villa, that she finally got time to reflect upon what happened at the graveyard._

_While her memories of the time were fuzzy, she at least knew for sure that it was the work of the Celestian Spirits linked to the keys her mother gave her. Watching at them, she felt happy and smiled. Everything was going to be ok because her new friends from the Spirit World were there with her._

* * *

A large room with no furniture nor any other object outside of large supportive pillars that formed two long, parallel lines across the wide space. Other than the yellow light emanated by wall lamps and the brown of the bricks that made up walls and floor, she could see nothing more. Where was she currently? Did she just got lost? Lucy was sure to have followed the main path, but the many side roads along the way had made it very difficult to orient around the tower. And since all the halls looked exactly the same, there was no meaning trying to recall her steps.

The silence was creepy. The quite atmosphere was nerve wracking. Fear was sending shivers to her back. What if the enemies suddenly ambushed her? Or worse, what if a supernatural being such as a ghost appeared behind her? She really disliked dark places like that, especially with no one else around to back her up. Situations like these made her regret being split up with her teammates. Luckily she had always her keys with her. Loke and the other Celestian Spirits were always beside her, and that helped her calm down a little.

Suddenly, from the sides of her eyes, she caught a glimpse of something lurking in the shadow.

'What was that?' she thought as she turned around. The light was dim, so maybe she saw wrong and it was nothing. Or so she wished, but unfortunately she had been right.

It kept happening again and again. Something was indeed moving quickly around. And by sharpening her ears, she caught a faint sound of jumps was that was getting closer and closer. There was no time to waste. Taking out the lion themed golden key from her belt, she prepared for the attack.

"Open! Gate of the Lion!"

Loke immediately manifested once again in front of his Master, his body fully materialized just in time to catch an incoming knife. As a gesture of courtesy, he then threw it back from the direction it was launched. Whoever had dared to threaten Lucy's life was going to pay dearly.

The weapon hit a pillar. From its behind emerged a tall, long-faced man with blond and black hair, a reinforced chin guard that extend upwards to his green-tinted sunglasses and a red racing suit on.

"Bold move of you to attempt at Lucy's life. Who the Hell are you, punk?"

"Me? My codename is Racer. Faster than anybody and anything, running is what I do the best."

"Oh ho, faster than anyone? That's yet to be seen. My name is Loke, and I'll make you pay for what you just did."

Both run toward each other. Loke was fast, incredibly fast, but his opponent was no slouch either. Both reached supersonic speed in just few steps and, once at few centimeters from each other, started a fist fight.

"Regulus Assault!"

With light Magic gathered in both fists, the Lion Spirit aimed at all the visible weak spots in the enemy's guard and threw a rapid succession of powerful punches like a pro boxer. Left, right, top, down, the movement of his arms were so quick that it reminded the shots of a machine gun.

"Motor!"

But Racer took the challenge head on and blocked all the blows, each one at the very last second to throw his opponent off balance. A counter then followed almost instantly in the form of quick kicks. Low, high, front, side, each of his strikes was deadly.

A nonstop, high speed exchange with eyes focused on each others weaknesses. Both fighters had years of experience and knew very well that a single instant of distraction would proved detrimental in such an intense fight. None of the two gave the other a single moment of break. But only one could come out of it victorious.

And then something happened that broke the stalemate.

Taking out a knife from his jacket, Racer threw the pointy object in the direction of Lucy.

While their movements were too fast to follow, the blonde mage had still been very attentive. She was Loke's Master and as such it was her duty to be proactive in battle, even if she didn't personally fight head on the enemy. And so she was not caught unprepared.

Using a silver key, Lucy summoned Horologium. The sturdy grandfather clock shaped Spirit protected her as a barrier. But since she could not support multiple summonings yet, it vanished right after the impact as a result of lack of mana.

The attempt ended in a failure, but that didn't bother Racer. It served its purpose and successfully distracted Loke, even if just for a moment. Taking advantage of it, the red mage enhanced once more his speed and threw three reverse roundhouse kicks that sent the Lion Spirit fly away.

"Over here!"

He sprinted forward and followed with a burst of punches. A final axe kick connected with Loke's head afterward, so powerful that it made the ground crack. Once done, he stepped back and grinned arrogantly.

"Ow, come on. What happened to all that attitude you had before?"

Her friend was in no condition to continue. He was clearly in difficulty, perhaps due to the fact that he had yet regained back his former strength after so many years of exile from the Spirit World. Lucy was not going to let him fight any longer, especially with that nasty wound, and so prepared to recall him.

But Loke refused to do so, his fighting spirit still high despite having just suffered a terrible blow.

"Regulus Plasma Net!"

As the name implied, the technique consisted in multiple blows of light Magic that surrounded the enemy in an inescapable net. While individually their power didn't amount much, their number was high enough to overwhelm most opponents.

It was an extremely difficult task to dodge it once fired, but Racer didn't need to since he was not even there to begin with. Before Loke was even able to start creating the net, the red mage had already vanished.

"Gear Change: Red Zone!"

A further acceleration that allowed Racer to move even faster. This was what allowed him to preemptively escape. Reappiring from Loke's right side, he went for a flying kick.

The Lion Spirit tried to jump away, but couldn't do it in time due his body suddenly feeling slower. As a last ditch effort, he crossed his arms in a guard but in vain. A dagger came out from under Racer's shoe and pierced through the magic protection around his forearms. Sent back a few meters, his breath got heavy and it became difficult for him to stay materialized.

"Dead Grand Prix!"

Not a second later, the red mage summoned a horde of motorcycles. Riding on top of one of them, he tried to run over his opponent.

But Loke was quick to react and dodged right before the wheels hit him. There was a problem with his body tho. The unique, passive ability possessed by the Celestian Spirit of the Lion Constellation granted a special increase of speed overtime, meaning that as long as the battle continued Loke would became faster and faster. Yet strangely his movements didn't became much faster compare to before. Something was slowing him down, but he didn't know what.

Still, he needed to do something. He couldn't keep dodging forever after all.

While swiftly moving between them, he counted their total number. Once he got enough space between him and the bikes, he made multiple pillars of light errupt from the floor.

"Regulus Blast Fang!"

Explosions then happened all around the room as all the vehicles turned into pieces of junk.

But it turned out that it was yet another trap. A knife found itself in Loke's shoulder, and another one would have followed if Lucy had not step in to deflect it away with her whip. Magical particles started to leave his body, his container reaching its limit.

"Surprised at how fast I am? Nobody can keep up with my speed. You couldn't hit me even in a hundred of years." said Racer while walking out once again from behind a pillar.

At the last second, before the bike got blasted away, he had switched out with a projection of himself.

'S-So strong! Not even Loke could defeat him, what should I do?'

If not even her fastest Spirit could match the speed of the red mage, then Lucy was in serious troubles. What other option were left? Running away? No, she could not and would not. She had run away for all her life, and it was something she would never do again. It was time to stop escaping from problems and face them head on. Fairy Tail was her home and their members her new family. Now that one of them needed her, she could not simply turn around. And going back would only tarnish her guild's name like Erza used to say.

She kept her cool and analyzed her options. Racer was taking his sweat time to enjoy his victory, and this gave her time to reflect on the next course of actions. Loke was sure to retreat, she would not allow him to further injure himself. Hebi was not the best choice, his weapon was powerful but not useful in a situation like that. No water to call Acquarius, and the key of Bull would not answer her calls. Then there was only one option left, tho she had prefered to not rely on him since he wasn't yet in top shape.

As to answer her Master's determination, the arrow shaped golden key on her belt light up. Lucy smiled. Confidence built up in her as she picked up said key. Her trustiest Spirit wanted to take part in the fight, and so be it.

Loke, understanding the intention of his Master, did not hesitate to dematerialize.

"Sorry Lucy, next time I'll make sure to protect you properly. I'm leaving her with you, sensei."

With that a Spirit faded away, and another one appeared.

"Still think you got a chance to beat me, eh? Not that I dislike challenges, but shouldn't you have learned already that there is nothing you can do against me?"

"That is not something for you to decide. As long as my Master keeps striving for victory, I shall aid her. That is my role as her Spirit and as her teacher."

A blonde man clad in leather armor and holding in his hand a golden bow. A solemn voice and a composed manner. Calm and collected even in the midst of a battle, a seasoned warrior and master in many fields. Considered both as the wisest and the most skilled fighter among all twelve Zodiac Spirits, the Sagittarius Spirit now stood between his summoner and her opponent.

"Let's do this Chiron! Let's show him the strength or our bond!" shouted Lucy, her whip ready in hand.

As both prepared to battle, Chiron projected an arrow on his hand.

Racer didn't waste a moment and immediately activated his Magic.

"Motor!"

With that, he quickly dashed toward the blonde Spirit and, with a knife in hand, he aimed to hit his opponent's head.

First a simple back step to gain a little more distance. Then Chiron moved his body to the side as the tip of the knife neared itself to his face. The shock of having someone dodge him made Racer hesitate for an instant, enough to give the blonde Spirit an opening for his attack. He stepped forward and, with his elbow lowered, pulled back the string of his bow and shot the arrow at point blank toward the red mage's head.

A few millimeters on the left and the man would be no more. It was only thank to his high reaction time, combined with his Magic, that Racer managed to move his head at the last second, before the arrow grazed his face and broke his glasses. But nothing could save him from a powerful front kick directly in his stomach, that sent him flying away.

"I think I understand your ability. It is not a Magic that allows you increase your speed but rather it slows down your surrounding, giving the impression that you were moving very fast. That's why Lucy could call Horologium in time or deflect the knife."

Upon hitting ground, Racer immediately regained his senses and forced himself to rise up despite the pain. His body hurt, especially his belly, and it was difficult to move. But what hurt the most was his pride. His teeth were tinted in red, stained by the blood he was spitting from his mouth. An enraged expression was on his face as he growled. It was clear, the man was furious. How did it happen? Racer could not stand what just happened, he could not tolerate to be hit. That meant he was not fast enough, which was something he could not accept. He had dedicated all his life to be the fastest, that was his pride and the sole talent he possessed. To be stripped of it meant dying to him. He would not allow such insult go without punishment. Another arrow came, but this time he caught it with his hand.

"So what?! Do you think that knowing it will help you beat me?! Just because you got a lucky hit, it doesn't mean anything! Play time is over! Gear Change: Red Zone!"

Taking out all the knives and throwing them furiously while running left and right like a mad dog, Racer went for a wide ranged assault.

With no way out, Chiron decided intead to deflect them and spinned his bow like a spear. Not all were successfully stopped, but he still came out with only small cuts.

Then a flying kick followed. Dematerializing his bow, the leather clad warrior caught the leg with both of his hands. But Racer threw one last knife that was hidden under his sleeve. He avoided it by tilting the head to the right, but in doing so he met his opponent's other feat, on the tip of which there was another knife attached.

The blond Spirit realesed the grip and quickly leaped back. Unfortunately he still got grazed in the forehead. He could not see from a side for blood covered his right eye.

Taking advantage of the enemy's sudden blindness, Racer approached from right and threw a butterfly kick that sent the familiar against a pillar. It was time to finish the fight, he was prepared to end his opponent with all his strength. But then he got hit by a whip from behind.

"Did you forget about me?" said Lucy with a grin.

While the red mage's attention was entirely focused on her ally, the blonde mage had sneaked around and patiently waited for the right moment to join in the fight.

"You!"

Just as he turned around, Racer lost. In a single motion, Chiron put an end to the fight. The sound of broken bones followed as a punch hit his ribs, his chest and a right hook made him spinning in air unconscious.

It was the end. Both Lucy and Chiron looked at each other, one with a relieved face and the other with a pround smile, and both slapped high five with each other. Thet did it, they had won.

* * *

As he stepped through the main gate of the prison, Jellal's gaze narrowed. A dreading sensation was in the air, and a malicious aura covered the entire place. But the mage still kept advancing, his resolve burning of a vivid fire.

Surrounded by a thick, magical fog that put anyone within a meter to sleep, he walked inside unnoticed by the guards. Although not that much powerful compared to other spells he had learned in the years, this trick was one of his favorites as it allowed him to easily sneak everywhere as long as the enemy didn't have strong magical protections.

Upon seeing the trail of unconscious bodies along the way the man smiled a bit under his mask, his instinct telling him that it must have been the work of a certain red headed girl.

Then, as he looked at the tower ahead, he clenched the staff in his hand.

"Wait for me, Erza. I'm coming."

* * *

"Wait Miss, we can't go faster even if we want!" tried to argue one of the sailors, but in vain.

The woman he was talking with was not listening at all. There was no way to make her reason, nothing he said seemed to work. The ship had already reached top speed a long time ago, yet she still asked to further increase it. He was now questioning his choice of helping such an unreasonable person. Why had he accepted such a job to begin with? He should have not, but a voice had told him that had he refused something bad would have happened.

"I don't care. Make this ship go faster, now! I don't have time to waste when there are patients waiting to be treated." stated once again Nightingale, her mind focused solely on her duty as nurse and nothing more.

* * *

_Author's note:_

_**Journey to the end**: Glad you liked Okita. Expect to see more of her in the future :D_

_**Dxhologram: **About the Shinsengumi, my plan was to make it a group of mainly Japanese servants. So do expect someone from GudaGuda for exemple._

_**the-lost-memories6: **It shouldn't be taking too long for Gil to appear again, so hope you stick around until then._

_So let me say this first, the chapter is a little unpolished. I'll make sure to edit it better in the next few weeks, but unfortunately I'm really busy in this period so can't do right now. _

_Now info time._

_1) Racer was used here because I needed someone __to put against Lucy. Since__ there is no place for him in the later arcs (I made some changes to the members of the Oración Seis), I thought why not. Didn't give him a backstory because I feel there is no need for it. Sometime there is just no reasons behind someone's actions like in this case. He is a dark mage and does his job as a guard, that's all. (also for some reason I made him use knifes a lot, maybe I watched too much Jojo lol)_

_2) For Loke's fighting style I took some inspiration from Saint Seiya's Leo Aiolia. He is definitely stronger than canon, and would be able to beat Racer __at full power__. Unfortunately he wasn't in top shape, but don't worry he'll get to shine more in future arcs._

_3) Here a somewhat obvious choice. Chiron is the Sagittarious Celestian Spirit and acts like a sort of mentor for Lucy. He also is not in full strength, so had a slight bit of difficulty. But he could definitely end the fight alone, it just took less time with Lucy's help._

_This is all for this time. Next chapter is already ready and edited, and it is the best I've written so far. Can't wait to publish it XD __Have something to say to me? Leave a review. Goodbye._


	12. Farewell

_Merry Christmas! I know it's a little early, but since I'll take next week off I might as well say it here. Here is the awesome chapter 12, enjoy it._

_Disclaim: I don't own Fairy Tail nor Fate/Stay Night_

* * *

**Arc 1**

**Chapter 6: Farewell**

* * *

_"From today onward, you shall be mine. Feast as much as you want, grow stronger and serve me well for all eternity. Hahahaha!"_

_The old man's body moved on his own, as if it was controlled like a puppet. His consciousness was barely functioning, but he wished it wasn't. _

_As he feasted on the flesh of some prisoners and used his claws to gauge their eyeballs, a disgusting and sickening sensation filled him inwardly._

* * *

"You can no longer dodge, Erza! This is the end!"

The old man, with a simple swipe of his hand, fired dozens of fire runes.

Erza was in a pinch. Her opponent had cornered her completely. Put against a wall and with both legs bind by branches, she was left with no way to escape.

"Not yet!"

But if it was impossible to avoid them, then she would face it head on. Inside her mental library the image of a red, dragon themed armor immediately appeared.

As the Flame Empress Armor materialized around herself, Titania igniting her entire body and broke free from the trap.

She then created a giant, red sword. It was a nameless weapon, but its ability to manipulate fire made it ideal against a druid whose Magic was linked with the Nature.

With a single swing of the blade, she easily cut down the fire balls.

Leaping in air, fire gathered on the edge of her sword.

"Predictable!"

As the girl descended at high speed, the old man didn't waste time and reinforced the wooden rod in his hand with multiple runes.

He blocked the slash with his empowered weapon. The following collision moved the air around and the earth under his feet cracked under the powerful impact.

"Weak!"

He then side jumped as the force behind the strike weakened, and let the blade slip beside him.

Taking advantage of the gravity, he followed by spinning the rod and, as both ends caught fire, thrust it against Erza.

"Argh!"

Blood spit from her mouth as she fall back. It was a mistake to rely solely on her armor's protection. It hurt, to think that just a single blow would leave her to such a state.

Titania knew the old man was strong, but not to such a degree. A direct approach was not going to work, she needed to change her tactic.

"Is this really all you got?! What a disappointment!"

The druid stomped the soil and a bunch of mystical scripture appeared.

Big chunks of rock suddenly started floating like clouds, and at his order they all flew toward the girl.

She could dodge them, but it was probably what her opponent hoped for. It was clearly a trap, meant to create an opening, and she was not going to fall for it.

She was willing to take the attack head on. Among the many armors she could project, she chose the one best renowned for its defensive properties.

Wearing the bulky, blue Adamantine Armor, she face tanked them.

"Not bad, but you can't hide behind that shield forever!"

Since the girl wouldn't budge even under a rain of heavy rocks, the druid summoned a wooden arm from the ceiling and tried to squash her.

If Titania dared to directly take the hit, not even that sturdy armor of hers would prevent her from taking some serious damage. In the case she moved away tho, he was ready to bombard her with more runic spells.

"Don't underestimate me!"

It was all within her calculations. To trick him into believing she had no other choice than the two alternatives the old man predicted. He now was solely focused on the spots she could jump to.

The Ice Empress Armor took immediately the place of the previous one, and the surrounding area beside her frozed in a blink.

Her favorite black bow appeared in her hand, and a storm of arrows followed.

They were no normal projectiles, but ones able to create wide ranged explosions on impact.

Took by surprise, the druid could not came up with a proper counter and only made a simple barrier which could not completely shield him.

The idea of being outsmarted by Erza kept replaying inside his head as he rolled a few meters back. The timid girl he once knew was now overwhelming him, and that made him happy. Maybe his time finally arrived, maybe now he could finally close his eyes forever. Perhaps his nephew would be the one to end his cursed existance once and for all.

He tried to got up, or rather his body tried to move without his command. A normal human would have taken more time to stand up again, but he was not normal at all.

His heart wanted to let Erza win, yet his body and mind refused to do so. A vicious struggle was happening inside of him while he cleared the smoke in front of him.

Two swords impaled him in both legs and one went through his right shoulder. As their tips pierced his white, rotten skin and his old bones, a fourth one neared itself toward his chest and stopped a few millimeters from stabbing him.

They looked each other in the eyes as silence reigned for an instant.

* * *

_"My heart?"_

_Erza looked down at her chest, and put her hand on it. The organ responsible for the circulation of blood in her body was beating fast, sign that she was alive._

_"Yes, that is where your soul reside. Everything begins from you believing in your heart. As long as you follow it, you'll never go wrong. That's also the key to understand your Magic, because the heart is the source of our strength."_

_"Hey hey, Ojii-san. Do you think that one day I can also be a famous mage who flies in the sky with a broomstick?"_

_With a warm smile, the old man nodded._

_"I know you can. Stay always true to your beliefs and walk proudly the path you chose. As long as you stay faithful to yourself, then I'm sure you'll achieve your dreams."_

_Picking up a wooden stick, the little girl simulated the action of riding a broom and jumped around happily._

_"Then I'll be free in the sky. And I'll bring you with me, Ojii-san!"_

* * *

She hesitated, her arm trembled as the sword in her hand stopped its track.

Could she really kill him, someone she considered like a family member? Was that really the only way to end the fight, were there no other way to stop her opponent without taking his life?

She hated herself for been weak minded, her resolve was weaving despite she had prepared for this. Her will was supposed to be stronger, it was not time for regrets. Hesitation and uncertainty would only lead to her death, she needed to discard them. But she could not.

"What's the matter, girl? I can still sense doubt in your heart. Do you feel guilty to kill this old man? Do I look like someone that needs your concerns?"

Instead of having the blade pierce him, Rob went ahead and let his body be pierced.

Erza's instinct took over and she jumped back immediately. The druid had done nothing, yet her body moved on reflex as if sensing incoming danger.

"I no longer am human! Look at this, look what kind of monster I become! Do you still think I need your pity?"

Rob thrust his left hand inside the wound in his shoulder and opened it deeper.

He trully didn't like what he was doing, it was not his true feelings afterall. But it was necessary, taunting Titania would hopefully snap her out of her disillusion and let her face reallty. If not, then only a cruel death awaited her as sooner or later she would make a fatal mistake.

As he looked his opponent, his eyes shone of a sinister red color in the dark cave.

"Rob..."

"There is no Rob here, that weakling doesn't exist anymore! There is not a single trace of him left behind!"

There was rage in his words, but not toward Erza. He was angry at himself to have to put the child in such a situation.

"No! As long as I remember you and the memories of the time we had spent together, you'll never cease to exist. I will not allow it! "

She watched the old man's wounds healing at an unnatural speed and understood the message he was trying to give her.

Forgiveness was not something he wanted. Rob would have rather been in Hell than living his life as a blood sucker that indiscriminately murdered people only for his own survival. He had enough of all of this and it was her duty to end his suffering.

"Can you stop me, you whose heart still holds doubts? Will you be able to cut me down, despite still clinging to those past memories and can't accept the reality of the facts?"

A mighty wooden giant appeared beneath the druid and covered almost all of the surrounding space. Rob was now standing on its right shoulder, waiting for her.

Flames engulfed all around, made it seem like a living Hell.

"I must! This is the only thing I can do for you right now, Rob!"

"Then come at me with all you've got!"

* * *

_"In battle it isn't always the strongest that win neither the most skilled. Sure they are deciding factors, but what truly will lead you to victory is the ability to analyze both your opponent and your surrounding. Know yourself, what you are capable of and what are your limits. Don't try to be something you are not. Strength alone will not bring you anywhere, there will be a time when someone that surpass you, either physically or has more mastery of the art of battle. You can't hope to reach their high, eventually improving yourself alone will not be enough. But that doesn't mean you can't overcome them. Keep your mind clear and observe the situation, create openings and exploit weakness. No opponent is invincible, no living being is perfect. Even if it is one in a million, there will always be a possibility. Mhhh, what is it?"_

_"Oh, nothing sensei. Just you seem quite experienced eheh."_

_"Hmph, don't be fooled by my look. I had my fare share of battles when I was younger."_

* * *

'Judging the concept of creation'

-The first step was to have an imprint of the original. To create a copy, she needed to know its shape, material and origin-

**Caladbolg: the Rainbow Sword, also known as the Spiral Sword, was an ancient sword of light said to be the prototype of many magic weapons from later generations. ****She had seen it stored at the capital of Fiore. A drill shaped blade that had the power to unleash a rainbow colored shimmer with enough power to clean off the top of numerous hills. By using the Heaven and Earth Great Rotation, it could destroy big pieces of land with powerful eruptions. ****Unfortunately, not everyone could use it and it didn't fit Erza's fighting style at all.**

Covered by a blue lightning aura, she slithered around the giant's arm like a snake.

'Hypothesizing the basic structure'

-A simple outline of the weapon in question, both exterior appearance and inner functioning-

Wickerman's other arm reached for Erza, its hand open ready to snatch her and threw her inside its cage as a sacrifice.

'Duplicating the composition material'

-Replicate the material used to forge it and recreate every single one of its components-

A left side jump followed by throwing the spear. Equipped with the gauntlets of her Giant Armor, incredible strength backed the threw.

* * *

_"Haste is your enemy. Don't let emotions cloud your judgements. Don't rush, follow each step and take your time to forge the weapon and armor that you need. There is always a perfect one for each job. A well crafted blade will always surpass an hundred bad creations. Don't treat them as mere tools, but rather as extensions of your own body. Project not a disposable object that is meant to break, but one that must last. "_

* * *

'Imitating the skill of its making'

-The art of crafting and the skills required to bring to life such beautiful and magnificent creations. All those knowledge, learned through many years of experience, were compressed and acquired in just few seconds-

**That's why the second version, the Fake Spiral Sword, was modified into an arrow. Once fired, it coiled into a spiral and created twisting distortion in the space that gave it incredible penetrating ability. Its destrutive power was enough to tear down entire buildings.**

The puppet's head got blown away and the powerful shock wave forced its body to back away. But it still kept moving its limbs as a third arm grew out to replace its lost part.

'Sympathizing with the experience of its growth'

-The story of the weapon and the skills of its wielder were all transfered inside her-

In mid air her movements were limited. As such, it resulted difficult to escape from the assault that was coming her way.

This limitation was quickly overcame by using the Black Wing Armor that granted her the gift of fly. Erza flew through the gaps and proceed to project a black axe.

'Excelling every manufacturing process'

Titania was spining the newly formed weapon at high speed. Rob could see her throw it like a disc and using it to divert his attention. The next course of action would be to attack from a blind spot, probably behind him. He would not be caught imprepared again.

Right after he blocked the attack with a wall of branches, he turned around and saw Erza with a bow.

His calculation proved to be correct. A perfect response came in the form of a blue dome that trapped them in a anti-projectiles space.

Erza's action were anticipated. But that didn't present a problem. Many sparks flowed on her hand as the object in her immagination took form.

* * *

_" Your goal is to survive, any means is acceptable as long as you reach the goal you set in mind. Swordsman have their code of honor, but in a battlefield those means nothing if you fail. But don't abandon your own morals for the sake of success. We are not machines, as humans we do mistakes, but we also have the right to make choices according to our own person. Sometimes the right thing we must do is not always the correct one. Just never regret your decision and always walk your path. Follow your own dream and be what you want."_

* * *

"Caladbolg III!"

**And then there was Caladbolg III: the Raging Fake Spiral Sword. The sublimation of years of efforts spent into forging swords with her teacher and understanding the inner working of her own Magic. Unlike the previous versions, it was not a mere replica. Not only both piercing and destructive powers were at least doubled, it possessed some abilities derived from other weapons that composed it such as Hrunting's pursue ability and Gáe Dearg's anti-Magic ability. A one hit kill arrow from which it is very difficult to defend from, and a trump card that could easly reverse the result of most battles.**

**Unfortunately its high mana consumption, added to the long time it required to be constructed, made it difficult to use often. In a single fight she could create only from two to three of them before running out of power. But it was enough as even in if the target managed to survive, the distortion would prevent them from moving for some time and gave her time to deal the finishing blow.**

A sonic boom echoed through the entire area as she nocked the scarlet arrow, and the cave shacked a little.

Leaving a spirraling trait behind, it razed anything that stood between it and its prey.

Like a shooting star, it didn't stop at its target, but kept flying even beyond the cave, coming out from the walls of the tower and reaching for the sky.

"Aaaaaaarrrrgggghhhhh!"

What had happened? The druid didn't even have time to grasp the situation that most of his body was torned away, reduced to nothingness along the Wickerman.

One instant he was having the upper hand, and the next instant he was laying in a pool of blood. His body squirmed painfully as it tried to regrow.

And judgement fall upon him in the form of a yellow spear that finally pierced his heart.

He was dying, he could feel it as his body was crumbling down and every cell inside him was turning into magical particles, dissolving in thin air like dust.

"..."

Erza was crying, kneeled on top of Rob's body while holding Gáe Buidhe. The girl tried to stay strong until the last second, but could not hold back the tears of sadness as her grandfather was dissapearing.

A tragic ending, a inevitable conclusion. It was time for farewell, but Faria did not have regrets. His last moment with his niece left a warming sensation in his soul as his eyes closed.

"I'm pround of you, Erza."

* * *

_Author's note:_

_So many reviews, I'm grateful to all of you. Since there are so many, this time around I'll just answer those asking some questions. _

_**rantingbansheer: **Well, you addressed some good points. First, it's not like Natsu or Erza are weaker just because they didn't fight against Jellal. In this first arc you have them dealing with dark mages and pseudo immortal creatures, which is no joke. More fights are to come, some even more gruesome than those in canon, just need to wait. Second, Jellal grew up in a different enviroment so things were bound to be radically different for him and Laxus is in his redemption period. He did a lot of questionable things in the past, just like in canon, but has changed since then. I'll not spoil, but he'll play a big role in some future arcs._

_**Kensei-1085: **Yes, as shown in the manga Jellal can use spells like Mystogun on top of his own Magic. True Magic does exist, tho will not be mentioned until later on._

_**Shiroyasha Rises:** Thanks for those words of support. I actually really liked Protector of Fairies, and took inspiration from it for my fiction._

_Lostbelt 5 just released this week and many new servants appeared. No spoilers, but I heard great things regarding Orion. Also freaking Wodime trully deserves to be leader of the Crypters. And a bunch of fan favorite characters make a comeback. So excited for part 2._

_For Fairy Tail, I'm following the 100 years quest manga. There are some cool fights, especially Erza VS Laxus, but can't say much for the plot so far._

_Now some info:_

_...There is nothing to say XD __Erza's Magic is very similar to that of Emiya, but why? Well, you'll find it out in the future._

_Now let's get back to write. By the way we just reached 100 favorites which is awesome. See you next year, bye._


	13. Farewell 2

_Happy new year! Here a new chapter to start 2020. Hope you enjoy it XD_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail nor Fate/Stay Night._

* * *

**Arc 1**

**Chapter 7: ****Farewell 2 **

* * *

'Tsk.'

His right hand was shacking, something that had not happened for a long time. What was the cause for this sudden sensation he was currently having? Was it anxiety at work again, or maybe it was fear. No, how could he possibly feel fear in such situation? It was ridiculous.

Jellal grimaced, knowing fully well that he could not let his emotion take over. It was a part of him he had thought to have buried a long time ago. He had cast away his doubts and was fully set to come in that place once again, yet he was still being way too emotional and it was not good.

He gripped his fist as he kept proceeding from one room to another. No matter, he would not succumb under the pressure. As he kept running through alterations of light and dark, he quickly passed another hallway.

Once out, he ended up in a sort of small arena. The place stank strongly, bristled by a sickening smell of rotten flesh and smelling even worse than outside of the tower. Not counting the big, high wall that enveloped the entire circular area, there was really nothing that stood out much. Yet, for some reason, a dreadful sensation was slowly taking over him as he walked around.

'Damn it, why I am freaking out right now?!'

While carefully inspecting the surrounding, he bumped into a small group of children that were playing with each other. Were they perhaps prisoners? The mage was not sure, but if they were he needed to free them.

He went a little bit ahead to have a better look at them and shock caused him to waver for a moment at the sight of their faces.

* * *

_A black haired boy extended him a hand._

_"So you are the newcomer? Pleased to meet you. My name is Simon. Whats your name?"_

_Silence. He didn't answer nor move, just kept sitting there passively._

_"Mhhh, what's the matter? Did the cat bit your tongue? Or maybe you can't speak at all?" said another black haired boy near Simon._

_"Stop it Wally, can you show a bit more delicacy? Maybe he's just timid." followed the brown haired girl with a cat like hair style who was right behind Simon._

_After scolding the other boy, she then she presented herself while showing a cheerful smile._

_"Hello there. My name is Mirianna. Nice to meet you, meow."_

_"Hey I was just asking, that's all. Sigh, well you can call me mad dog Wally. That's what my friends call me, haha." replied Wally while scratching the back of his head._

_"M-my name i-is Sho…"_

_That was the last one. A strange bunch of kids for sure. They didn't know him, it was their first meeting. Yet they were so welcoming and kind. That made him open up a little bit._

_"...Jellal."_

_"Uh? Sorry I didn't hear you. Can you say it louder?"_

_"Jellal. Call me Jellal Fernandez."_

_"See, it wasn't so difficult. Let's be friends Jellal!"_

_"Yes, another friend. I'm so happy, meow."_

_"So what do you think, Jellal? We are all here as prisoners after all, and who knows what kind of cruelty will happen in the future. As such, we should help each other as much as possible, don't you think?"_

* * *

Those faces, Jellal could have never forget them. But how? They were supposed to be dead, he had seen them die in front of his eyes. How could this be happening? Was it an illusion, the work of an enemy spell? No, he hadn't detected nothing of sort. Yet there could be no other explanation for that. It was a trap, he knew it. Yet he could not stop himself from moving toward them.

Fernandez could not express his happiness to see his old acquaintances, and instinctively reached for them. He stretched his hand and tried to touch the shoulder of the little girl, but that proved to be a big mistake.

As the group of children turned into mud, the earth under his feet suddenly liquefied and changed from solid rock to a pond of brown liquid that was quickly sucking him inside of it.

Jellal was falling, he felt like he was sinking in the ocean without knowing how to swim. Reckless movements would only worse his situation and making it more difficult to stay afloat.

A spell would have solved the problem simply, but the mud was blocking most of his body. Only his head was out, just enough to breath. Another solution was required, and quickly before becoming entirely a part of the floor.

'Meteor!'

The Heavenly Body Magic was a type of Magic based on celestian bodies. Imitating the behavior of astronomical objects, one could defy the physical laws to a certain extent and achieving some impossible feet.

Mystogan, cloaked by such Magic, leaped out of the pond in the blink of an eye. While still in mid air, he pulled out one of the staves on his back and channeled mana inside of it. As lines of Magic formed, it started to float.

Standing on top of the flying staff, the mage activated a detection spell and looked for the enemy. The perpetrator could still be around, ready for an ambush. He was not going to fall for the same trap twice.

From the soil, a strange shaped blob of earth emerged. In front of the Fairy Tail's mage, an imposing creature suddenly took form. What was exactly that thing? It was not a beast for sure. No living creature could compare to that abomination. Perhaps it could have been a demon. Indeed its body was emanating a sickening dark aura, but it seemed to lack even the smallest hint of mental activity.

Jellal was not sure what he was looking at. Such monstrosity was beyond anything he had ever faced. A three meter tall giant with dozens of arms coming out from all over its slimy body, each pair embracing a head that was engraved on its 'skin'. Said heads all had their mouths open, as if they were about to scream, and their eyes were hollow and lifeless. Veins poped out from its many limbs, giving it an imposing and threatening aura.

Without prior notice, the monster's higher part changed form and shifted into a crocodile shaped cannon that kept firing hundreds of mud shots nonstop toward Jellal.

It was like a machine gun with the fire power of a cannon. Each hit was quite dangerous if not lethal, and having to defend against a storm of them was not easy. But this time he was prepared.

Stretching his right arm with index and middle finger out, he casted a spell. Three of his other staves immediately hovered before him in a triangular formation and a magical circle materialized.

'Water Mirror!'

By forcefully gathering the nearby atoms of hydrogen and oxygen in the air and making them react, he created the water needed to craft the shield. The bubbles swirled in the middle of the cercle and a round mirror now stood between Jellal and his opponent.

While it may had been a barrier, its main function was not that of defending but rather countering. By analyzing the nature of the enemy attack, it faithfully replicated it with a copy made of water. Despite not being of much use against foes that were more powerful than himself, in this kind of situation it proved to be very effective.

Not only each shot got countered, but Jellal easly overwhelmed the monster's barrage with his own one. The creature got run over by a huge number of water projectiles and his body got shred up as a result. But it didn't last long as the many holes closed up once again pretty much immediately, and a powerful mud jet followed.

Once again mana enlightened the circle, and the spell was ready to be activated once more. But this time things didn't go as intended. Jellal got ambushed from behind as hundreds of arms suddenly came out from the wall and tried to immobilize him. He was attacked in two fronts and did not have the luxury of focusing his Magic to cast a new spell.

Powering up the stave on which he was standing, he quickly dodged the assault. Riding it like a surfboard, he rapidly moved through the sea of hands that were coming for him. But it was not enough.

At one point, cornered by both sides, he decided to ditch his ride and, by using 'Meteor' once more, soared through the enemy attack on his own while ordering all his staves to anchor themselves somewhere in the wall.

Unfortunately he could not stay in air for too long as the net of arms kept becoming thicker and thicker for every second that passed. If it kept its pace, sooner he would run out of space to move and that would have meant the end. Luckily enough, the creature lacked the intellect to use effectively the field at his advantage and only attacked on instinct. This bought enough time for Jellal to perform his next attack.

He landed on the ground and the mud immediately surrounded his feet, making it difficult to move. But he didn't need to.

"Altairis!"

He crossed his arms above his head and released the mana he accumulated previously. All nearby shadows suddenly got drawn towards him, forming a small black orb which rapidly grew in size. With its tremendous amount of gravity, said orb started to attract everything around toward it. Upon release, it crushed everything in front of Jellal.

Not a single trace of the monster was left, compressed to nothingness by the incredible high density of the sphere, and the never ending assault of limbs ceased immediately after.

It was over. Or at least it should have. Yet things were far from ending.

Not even a second later and the ground shacked. From the depths of the rocky soil a big jaw came out, right under Jellal's feet, its size nearly big as the entire diameter of the arena. It was impossible to evade. No way out. Darkness surrounded him as he got ate alive by an eldrich demonic being formed of countless headless bodies that hanged out from each corner of its humongous body.

* * *

_He looked at Simon, tears dropping from his eyes at the sight of his friends being eaten by the beasts. It was not supposed to end up like this, they were supposed to escape together. And now they all died except for him._

_"S-Simon!"_

_"What are you doing, dumbass!? Run away, now!" ordered Simon, his hands and legs already taken away by those ferocious creatures._

_"B-But y-"_

_"There is no but, keep running and don't look behind! Escape out of here and live in our stead, you freaking idiot!"_

_And he did so. He run away, leaving everyone else behind. Instead of trying to help them, he thought only of himself. Such a coward, and he dared to call himself their friends?_

* * *

He was flung in the depths of the abyss, unable to sense anything.

His eyes were wide open, yet the only sight he could see was a world of darkness. Immersed in a strange purple liquid, his body was burning under the effect of many curses. Yet it didn't hurt at all. Maybe his sense of touch was so numb that he could not feel pain anymore.

Was he still breathing? Barely, but it didn't matter at all since he was slowly being plunged into that purple mass of hatred and chaos that reign sovereign inside that behemoth. Soon he would be no longer himself.

Hatehatehatehatehate.

That was all he could hear inside his head. A voice, a whisper from countless ghosts that kept echoing in his soul.

A meaningless wish to live despite being already a distant memory of the past, a hopeless desire to cling to this world despite having lost everything, a sinful existence that should not be possible yet was there.

They sought for companionship, they asked for help, they carved for more like gluttonous beasts eager for life.

'Join us.'

'Become one of us.'

'Lets be together forever.'

An unnatural and malevolent amalgamation of souls that refused to pass away, full of sadness and despair. Resentment toward the livings who could still enjoy the taste of life, anger toward this world for having abandoned them, and hate toward everything.

They kept screaming, screaming and screaming. Their rage was unstoppable and chaotic emotions filled them as they cried out pleas of help.

Amidst all of this, Jellal could see them. He was not sure how, but he could clearly see their faces despite the darkness. The hollow eyes of his friends looked at him with anger and resentment, their faces carved on what seemed like a dome among thousands of others.

Was this the punishment for his sins? Was this really the end? Maybe he deserved this...

* * *

_"Mh, whats the matter kid? Something worries you?" asked Dantés._

_"..."_

_"...Hmph. If you don't feel comfortable talking about it, I'll not force you." and with that the silver haired youngster returned to mine._

_"H-how do you keep the will to live? I-I just can't bring myself to. Many people had died because of me. My survival up till now have been built on their deaths. I just can't keep living knowing that it is because of other people lives that I'm here. Their ghosts keep hunting my dreams and their voices keep ring out in my head. Every night I have nightmares in which I see their corpses cling on me and curse my existence. What do I do?"_

_A sudden question to which Dantés had no answer. He was caught at surprise by the sudden outburst and did not know what to say, but still tried to come up with something as to answer the boy's concerns._

_"...I don't know. Maybe it's because you feel guilty, but that's normal. It would be strange if you don't feel guilty. It is right to remember those who died, cherish the memories about them so that they can keep living in our heart and not be forgotten. But don't let them dictate your future. It's wrong to stop pushing forward. No, it would only be a disrespect to them if you just give up striving for the future. As a survival, it is your duty to live in their stead."_

_Dantés then smirked at him, and turned to look in the direction of Rob and Erza._

_"Let me ask you this, brat. You said you can't bring yourself to continue living, but is it really true? Don't you have at least a reason for which you want to keep fighting for, something dear that you wish to protect with all your will?"_

* * *

No, it was not the time to die yet. Perhaps one day he will face the judgment for the many deaths he was partly responsible for, but it was not today. He had a promise to keep and a family waiting for him.

'Heavenly Dragon Assault!'

Five elemental dragon snakes made of light came out from the staves as a result of the spell's activation. They tangled around the giant worm, devouring its cursed flesh and strangled it like a balloon.

Being made of darkness, the creature could do nothing to oppose the attack and was forced to open its huge mouth.

Using 'Meteor', Jellal flew outside in a flash. His garments were all torn and his skin was slightly burnt. But that was the extent of the damage he took. While still in air, he placed both arms on top of each other, with the top hand having only the index and middle fingers spread out, and fired one last attack.

"Be judged by the seven stars. Grand Chariot!"

Seven Magic Seals were summoned above him. A line then connected the circles, creating a constellation of sorts, and from each of them a powerful light blast was released down on the same pattern was projected on the ground and a powerful explosion followed. The power of a meteor descended from Heaven and fell upon that abomination, making it disappear forever.

At last the curse broke. At last all the souls were free.

As the light slowly dimmed down, he saw a bunch of them taking shape. Simon, Wally, Mirianna and Shion all smiled at him.

"Goodbye, Jellal."

Jellal couldn't hear it, there was no voice coming from them since they were immaterial beings, yet he could understand their feelings. He took of his mask and smiled at them in return. His heart was now lighter, a burden had finally been lifted. Even after so much time, even after everything happened, they still considered him as their friends.

* * *

_Author's note:_

_For those that wondered, the current arc should end in about 4 more chapters. Don't think I'll drag it for longer since I have no time to write more. We are reaching the climax soon. After that I'll have a one chapter interlude that should lead to the start of arc 2._

_Now for this chapter there isn't much to say. I tried to give Jellal a little bit more of character development and included some flashbacks to explain some of the stuff that were mentioned in the prologue. _

_Well, if you want to say anything to me just write a review. See you next week._


	14. Seeker of eternity

_Guess I managed to finish editing this chapter in time. In the next few weeks uploads may become irregular because I am hella busy in this period of the year. Too many things to do and so little time :( Hope you enjoy this chapter._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail nor Fate/Stay Night._

* * *

**Arc 1**

**Chapter 8: Seeker of eternity**

* * *

_"Mom, will you stay with me forever?"_

_"Don't worry, I'll always be here for you."_

_Such a simple question, one that any child will sooner or later ask to their own mother. Seeking comfort and warm in an answer that is nothing but a lie. Yes, for all lives come to an inevitable end._

_"My beloved, will you walk by my side for all eternity?"_

_"I'll always be beside you, dear."_

_Lie upon lie. There is no truth behind those words, but mere disillusion. Hoping for a better tomorrow that will never arrive, for there is no future that await mankind outside of death._

_The death of our parents. The death of our friends. The death of our beloved ones. No matter how much humanity struggles to survive, one day they'll surely die. _

_Man's life amount to no more than a single breeze in the vast eternity of the universe. Small, weak flowers that struggle to even reach the next day, unable to achieve a single thing in their limited time in this world. Hopless and worthless._

_Eventually wither and reach a natural ending. That is the sad fate awaiting all living beings. A cycle of death and rebirth that never cease and continue forever, without end nor start. Living a sorrowful existence covered by the fear of the approaching death. Meaningless and pathetic._

_Why? Why must our lives be so short and insignificant? Why must we keep suffering? Why can't we live longer? Is there no way to escape the grip of death and achieve immortality? No, there must be a way. A way to reach eternity. Somehow there must be a way..._

* * *

The sun was setting, its place soon to be switched with that of the yellow moon. As the sky got darker and the first stars started to be visible, the two that were in the room stared at each other.

"Welcome to the Château d'if, hellish island which is beyond salvation. I commend you for reaching this far in the tower."

Were they smiling? Yes, it seemed so. A provocative grin accompanied the mocking tone of voice with which they welcomed the human. Was it arrogant for them to be cocky, to feel a sense of superiority? No, it was natural to expect such behavior from one who came from the Age of Gods. Mankind was no more than insects pestering this world, not worth of their full attention after all.

Perhaps it was just a waste of time. No, it was certainly an unnecessary thing to do. But there was not much choice since they had to fulfill their part of the pact, and it was not like they disliked it. It had passed a lot of time since the last time they got to enjoy the thrill of battle, so in a certain sense they welcomed it.

"Who are you? Are you the one behind all of this?!"

Titania eyed her opponent, carefully analizing the androgynous being standing before her. Only a single enemy stood there. No other presence beside them, nor traps either. But they were powerful, of that she was sure. An overwhelming pressure came from their golden eyes, their deadly stare making her flinch for a moment. Was he/she the one she was looking for? If so she was in deep trouble.

But she would not falter. Mana was already charged inside her circuits. Her mental library was ready to be used. The images of many weapons flashed in her mind, each one at the base of a powerful construct waiting to be crafted.

"Oh no, I'm simply an employ of his. If you are looking for the owner of this place, he is in the floor above u-"

So another fight awaited her after this one. Of course. With the luck she had, it was kind of inevitable. And that was if she managed to survive against her current opponent. But even with the odds against her, Erza was going to proceed. She had arrived too far to give up. The goal was just ahead, and she could not fail right now.

Lightning sparked as lines of power lighted up under her armor, and a barage of swords were lanched.

Blade met blade. The attack got countered as her opponent applied the same tactic as hers.

"Humans are such a primitive and barbaric species. Not sure if it is more infuriating to be interrupted in the middle of a sentence or to be understimated. But if you're looking for a fight, then I'll play along."

What was that feeling inside of them? Irritation? Strange, it had never happened before and by any means should not. What was the cause? Was it because they got interrupted in the middle of a speech? Or maybe because the human dared to challenge them despite the meager chances she had? Was she underestimating them? Could she not feel the gap in power? Or did she knew, but still tried to fight back? What a nonsense. How could a mere mortal hope to stand against them was beyond their understanding. In any case it was time to put her in the place she belonged: the trash can.

Steel versus earth. Both sides materialized more and more projectiles, Erza with the help of her Heaven's Wheel Armor and the green haired being by manipulating the floor. Hundreds clashes happened, hundreds of crafts were destroyed. Like machine guns, each part kept shoting weapons nonstop. But it was clear Titania was slowly being overwhelmed. At this pace she would run out of mana. She needed a new plan, a change of approach was required.

A side flip, followed by an istantaneous change of armor. Now wearing the Ice Empress Armor, Erza waved the stave in her hand and summoned a multi-layered wall of ice.

While it didn't hold for much, it gave her enough time to project a black bow. Along it, a drill shaped arrow also took form in her other hand.

Just as the barrier got pierced, she performed a high jump. Nocking the arrow, she then shot it while in mid air.

"Caladblog II!"

The space bend over as it flew at mach speed toward its target. But as it approached, golden portals opened in front of the green haired being. Chains with golden tips and silver rings came out, combining into a single lance that negated the attack.

What was their history she was not entirely sure. A quick glance with her Magic revealed some informations, like their ancient origin and their divine nature, but not enough to understand them completely.

The chains then came for her. But just when she prepared a counter, a magical shield appeared and protected her.

"Jellal?!You took too long to arrive. A minute later and I would have ended all without you."

She was happy. It may had sounded a sarcastic remark, but it was the way the two of them used to talk with each other. Fernandes had arrived, her friend was now there, and this gave her strength. There was no greater ally she could hope for than the person whom she had lived for nearly all her life, the trusted partner with which she had fought many battles in the past.

"Sorry for being late Erza. I'll take care of things here, so you go ahead."

He felt joy in seeing again Titania after so much time, and would had liked to talk more with her. But there would be time later on for that, now he needed to focus on the enemy in front of them.

"Wait, we s-"

What was he thinking? Fighting alone? Why would he even propose such a stupid idea? There was no way she would leave him back alone. But as she tried to reply, another wave of chains came.

"Do you really think you have the leisury of chatting while facing me?"

More golden portals opened up. The irritation grew at each passing second. They were starting to lose patience, getting ignored by mere humans was totally unsightly.

"No time Erza. Remember our promise. Even if it's just one of us, we must proceed at all cost. We promised to put an end of this and today is the day."

The two of them jumped back and blocked with a powerful gust of wind createad by Erza's Wind God Armor ability of wind manipulation.

Meanwhile 'Jiu Leixing' got fired by Jellal. Nine swords of lightning dropped from the ceiling toward the androgynous being. It didn't worked, but the following three restraining spells launched through his staves did.

He bought her a few seconds. It was clear he wanted her to go. It seemed no matter what she said, Mystogan would not rethink his decision. So stuborn, yet that was one of the many traits she liked about him.

"...You better not die, idiot."

And with that, wearing the Flight Armor, Erza sprinted to the door at the other side.

"Hmph, same for you."

"I don't know what to say. It's quite audacious of you to come in this place with this meager amount of people. Are you lacking a sense of danger? Or perhaps you're understimate us? Not that I find it strange since a majority of our forces is composed of useless pawns, but you better don't think it will be as easy as before."

They broke out of the spell rather easily. Looking around, they noticed the absence of one of the two humans. So one had escaped. Not their problem, it was not their concern. Sure it was a little frustrating, but there was no need to take things too seriously. His role was just to buy time, nothing more. And there was still the other mage they could lash out against.

* * *

_Perhaps due to the sudden death of his dear mother. Or maybe the sight of the cold, lifeless body of his deceased wife. Wethever was the trigger, ever since something awoke inside him he could no longer cease his mad pursue for the eternity._

_Fearing death more than any other living being. Longing for an existance that was eternal._

_Having no interest in nothing else, feeling more mechanical than human._

_He saw people breaking down, daily life fading away and time being forgotten by the world, all without limit. But rather than anger or despair, his feelings were those of pity. He simply thought everything around him was pitiful, and he himself was the most pitiful of all._

_Tripping and falling in front of hardships, but still clinging desperately on life. And when no longer possible, continue to reproduce instead. But even that had an end._

_There was no recompensation, not for those who live nor for those who die. From the very beginning there was no hope. Something with shape cannot help but perish. All living things internalized death the moment they were born. Like a fish born to swim or a bird born to fly, man was born solely to die. Something without death within them had probably never existed in the first place._

_ That was why he sought eternity. A noble wish, one which everyone yearned and yet none could achieve. To replace that tragic and almost-comical cycle with one pure thing. His sole reason for living, the only goal worthy of his full effort. He believed nothing in existence had yet to reach that level of immortality, something which would define eternity. He would be the first one to realize such impossibility._

_ Human vessels cannot resist the flow of time, which would wear down them both mentally and physically as years kept passing. They did not have the capability to last one thousand years. But he needed such long lifespan to achieve his ambitions. That was why he became a Dead Apostole._

_ While those seeking eternity often become Dead Apostles in pursuit of that goal, it was simply a means of furthering his own goal for him._

_ But even the body of a vampire could not withstand the aging of the mind. Not only that, but since it required stealing from others to exist, and their supplemental parts had to be from the same species so humans in general, it meant that they were not versatile at all. That which could not function independently could not be called eternal, so depending on others to halt their aging made it presumptuous to call them immortal. A species that ages slower and dies harder rather than any sort of embodiment of immortality, that was the sort of creatures they were. It was degeneration rather than evolution, a far cry from that which he truly wished for. _

_ While aging could be temporary stopped, that was only a momentary solution. And a stopped mind had no meaning. Beings such as jellyfish that could live perpetually already existed. But they had no such thing as a lifespan, rather they could only be called perpetual because they had no intelligence. Eternity without intelligence was no different than gaining it by death. _

_ As long as something existed, it cannot escape death. That was the law of the world. The only way was to preserve his existence after death, that was the conclusion to which he arrived._

_ Becoming eternal by living as a human with immortality was simply impossible. Long years would eventually destroy the body and wear away the flexibility of the mind. He had no interest in such a stained immortality, as persistently maintaining individuality made eternity unattainable._

_ Instead of seeking immortality as a single human, he chose to pursue an infinity where he existed eternally. In order to preserve the purity of his essence, he devised a method of reincarnation to restart from birth, exist as himself, and then die once more. The cycle would preserve the purity of himself through the generations, he was sure of that._

_ He realized eternal reincarnation far better than anyone else. And w__hile__ it still required new unborn children other than himself to continue, so he would eventually lose his eternity with the extinction of the human race, he believed that "eternity exists only as long as there is an observer". If no humans existed, he would not be able to confirm himself, which would make continuing to live useless and bring his immortality to an end._

_ Unfortunately his long decades of life as a Dead Apostole caused him to lose much of his mental lucidity he once had and twisted his personality beyond recognition. A mind polluted by the flow of time, no longer capable of distinguishing good from evil. Obsessed by his utopic wish, he no longer cared what was the original purpose of his researches nor the means by which he would achieve it..._

* * *

As she went up the last bit of stairs, the entrance to the last room of the tower appeared within sight. Coming to a halt right under the gate, Erza closed her eyes and let her nerves relax a bit before the final showdown. The moment had at last arrived. There could be no hesitation, going forward was the last boss and mistakes were no longer permitted. It was win or death.

She kicked the huge door and walked in, weapons in hand and ready for any trap.

In front of her, sitting on a white throne, was the man responsible for all the cruelty that had taken place in the island for so many years. No, the being could not be considered human anymore. Its skin was too pale for a living being and its crimson eyes unnatural to say the least. There was no trace of humanity in him. A Dead Apostole, but unlike the ones she had faced so far he was clearly on a different level. A dangerous presence equal if not greater than the androgenous being she had faced earlier.

And there was something else that bothered her since the moment she entered. Above the sit a strange golden cup was floating, its inside brimming of an unmesurable amount of mana. What was that? Whenever it was, it could only mean bad news for her.

"Welcome to my humble tower. To being able to come face to face with me, you must be trully a skilled mage. Who are you? No, it doesn't matter at all. Whoever you are is of no interest to me. What it matters is whenever you'll be able to entertain me or not in this beatiful night. Will you be able to keep me company until the promised time or will you die before?"

Owerflowing with violent intent, Roa welcomed the girl with open arms as to dare her to approach.

"It will not end as you wish. Whenever you're planning is going to fail. Tonight you'll get what's coming to you for all the people that you have made suffer!"

And so Erza did. Thus the battle started.

* * *

_Author's note:_

_**Dxhologram: **Probably one of my biggest concern at the moment hahaha. I still have no idea how to fit Kagura in all of this..._

_**Journey to the end**: Depend on how much I want use either of the two. Well, for Fafnir's role I should hint it soon._

_**tl34lt12**: Gratz, super happy for your response XD_

**_Shiroyasha Rises: _**_Some Lostbelt servants will appear eventually. I would not touch the Gods and Godnesses because things may become too complicated otherwise. Maybe one or two will appear but even then no mayor role for them._

_Last chapter sure got a good reception. Thanks again for the big support!_

_Now for this chapter, we are at the climax (or at least near it). Jellal VS clay boy and Erza VS Roa. Natsu, Gray and Lucy are in the lower levels and should join soon. The situation is heating up. And don't forget that Nightingale has reached the island's harbor by now. _

_Roa's main goal has being explained. And to achieve it he'll use a certain golden cup, filled with the mana he collected from all over Fiore through the black towers. No big changes from canon for his personality, just maybe he's a little bit more crazy and arrogant._

_This is all for this week. See you all soon. Bye._


	15. Beyond limits

_Back with a new chapter. Sort of got a block since I needed to elaborate more on the choreography of the the fights without making them too long or nonsense. Hope you like it and if so please leave a review._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail nor Fate/Stay Night._

* * *

**Arc 1**

**Chapter 9: Beyond limits**

* * *

As the small, wooden ship reached the harbor, Nightingale jumped out of it with a single leap without even waiting for it to complitely dock. And not even a second after she touched ground, a trail of dust arose behind her as she dashed in the direction of the black tower.

Patients in need of medical attention were waiting for her. No time could be wasted for idle chats with the sailor, who was still baffled and full of confusion by the presence of that mysterious island which was not supposed to exist according to the map.

* * *

Day had passed and evening came. Up in the sky, the small, round moon, that now stood in the middle of the starry night, shined of a bright yellow. It was that time of the month, the night of full moon was here. A small amount of its dazzling light fell through the colorful windows and enlightened the stage of the final act. It was here, inside four white walls reminiscent the interior of a church, that the fierce battle between those two entity with vast different backgrounds took place.

On one side stood the imposing figure of a powerful Dead Apostole, his abilities far exceeding that of any mortal man. A being of untold knowledge and might, with hundreds years of life. Holding ambitions that were beyond the realm of possibilities and seeking a truth attained by none, nothing had value in front of him outside of his own desires. From betraying his friends to killing milions of people, even rejecting his humanity, he had no restrains when it came to accomplish his own goals.

"That's right, keep dancing in this ballroom of mine. Don't stop, let the beautiful dance keep me entertained until the promised hour. Eternity is finally within my reach, and such joyous moment must be celebrated with the most magnificent of the exhibitions."

Why boasting his achievement so loudly in front of an intruder? Because Michael Roa Valdamjong was that kind of being who could hardly contain his immense ego. Indeed, he was a very prideful creature that always looked down upon those he saw as inferior species that lacked in everything. Even after his mindset had changed over and over again in the course of his long life, he still had not given up on this arrogant side of his personality. Despite his view of the world was radicaly different from the time prior to his 'rebirth', he still saw the mankind as a pitiful existance limited by time. His goal was still that of true reincarnation, an eternal life not bound by body but linked to the soul.

The work he had dedicated all his life was nearly ready, its conceptualization reaching the climax soon.

He was having fun, drooling in joy for the instant the portal to the Root would open. Perhaps the only thing left was a way to pass the little time before the imminent realization of his dream, and this fight could not have come at a better moment. It was trully a blissful night.

On the other side was Titania from Fairy Tail, wearing the Lightning Emperor set while dodging the many strikes of thunder that came from all directions.

Hidden traps were everywhere. No matter where she stepped, it seemed like there was always a magical circle set there waiting to be activated.

She was inside an unbreakable cage made of Magic, put against the entire environment which kept firing spells nonstop. It felt like been caught in the lair of a predator. She was at disadvantage.

Erza bit her lips, uneasy at the tight situation she was in. Unable to break through the rain of lightning, she was forced to jump left and right to not be hit by those massive discharges. Despite the defensive properties of her armor, they still managed to wound her.

Projected bow and arrows, she went for a barrage of explosive darts that would surely bought her time to sprint ahead. Unfortunately they got vaporized half way through the flight.

What now? An idea then came. Perhaps if guarding was not possible, then she could try to use the attacks at he advantage.

First she needed a new armament, and so a large, dazzling blade took the place of the bow. A fork shaped sword with an affinity with the lightning element, capable of absorbing said type of Magic and making it its own. She was unsure whenever it had the capacity to fully absorb the attacks, but with the right enhancement to its original design maybe it could.

She lifted as a shield, holding with one hand the handle and the other its edge. As it charged up, she left the grip and made it float in the air. It started to rotate, faster and faster. A disc of electricity was now above her, and Erza didn't hesitate to throw it at her enemy.

Cracks were already visible, meaning that the projection would not last much. But it didn't need to as it would cut Roa before it would happen. But the Dead Apostole was not surprised in the least, and elegantly jumped in the air. A loud impact followed, and the throne was no more.

As he slowly descended, a scyte approached dangerously toward his head. He effortlessly dodge it, but didn't notice that attached to the weapon's end was a long chain that now was wrapping around his body. Titania then followed with a poweful kick that sent him crushing on ground.

Twin spears then materialized in both her hands. She sprinted ahead with lightning speed, making the floor shake a bit and debris levitate for a moment.

Her opponent summoned a magical barrier, but it proved useless. A single, accurate thrust of the red spear followed by a rapid swing upward that completely severed the left limb. The barrier got dissolved, leaving Roa open for the next attack.

The yellow spear then proceed to strike the chest. But as its cursed tip came near him, Roa caught it with his other hand.

An arm flew in the sky, leaving a red trail of scarlet blood. But it didn't go far. One second it was up there in the air, spinning nonstop, and the next instant it was back to its natural position, attached to the Dead Apostole's body as if it never left it.

Erza tried to back down. Unfortunately something blocked her feet as she stepped back. A black, liquid matter was under her, clinging on her torso and attempting to swallow her as if it was a living beast. A violent assault of powerful bolts then struck down, tearing her armor in pieces.

"Ugh!"

But she wasn't done. Not yet. Pushing forward with all her might, she forcefully emerged from that mass of darkness. Small cuts turned into large wounds, and blood dripped from her scorched body like water from a broken jar.

She equipped the Flame Emperor Armor and summoned a wall of fire that turned her into a human torch and freed her from the restrains. She then performed a powerful slash with the newly forged magical sword, coated in a blazing aura of Magic. But Roa didn't falter, his smile didn't disappeared. His body burned into ashes, but the matter didn't dissolve and instead kept expanding.

It had been a copy the one Erza just took down. The real one was now standing behind her, with hands in the pockets of his trousers and unfazed by the attempt of the young mage. It was surprisingly amusing to watch the struggles of the human, the failed attempts further increasing the despair in her eyes.

"Interesting. Really interesting. You're certainly no common mage. I must admit you 're exceeding my expectations. Please, keep coming at me with all your might."

Again words full of arrogance that echoed through the room. Even in the middle of the fight, Roa still found time to throw taunting remarks at his opponent. But it was to be expected since he was overwhelming her. He had hardly moved a single finger since the start and yet Erza was already in difficulty. From the beginning it was a battle Titania had no chance of winning. The difference in power was evident.

Titania needed to get away, and as soon as possible before being trapped again. She switched into the Black Wing Armor and soared in air, just in time to evade a huge snake shaped thunder that was coming her way. But if the first one didn't land, the second one did in its place. Another thunder descended from the ceiling, coming from a big pentagram with ancient scriptures inside of it. Hit by a destructive force of multitude of volts, she blacked out and fell on the ground.

"Well, well. Seems like this is the end. And here I hoped you would last longer than this. Perhaps I pretended too much from a mere human."

* * *

The situation wasn't faring well for Jellal as his opponent was easily countering each of his moves. It was like they had a sort of sixth sense or even a third eye behind their back because despite the many attempts he still hadn't managed even once to caught them off guard. And their physical prowess was far beyond those of normal humans. Even using layers of Reinforcement he still was not able to compete with them. A direct approach was not going to work.

Currently using 'Meteor' to leap around the room, he was preparing the next spell to fire while chased by dozens of chains.

"Is this all? Tricks like this will never work on me even in a thousand of years."

While the fight kept going on, their eyes looked up from time to time. Seemed like something was happening on the upper floor. A fight was taking place between Roa and that human girl from before, but nothing that really concerned them as long as nothing endangered the golden cup. Not difficult to keep track of what was happening on the entire island due to possessing the highest grade of 'Presence Detection' that allowed to easily detect any presence, even those hidden by Magic, within a large area.

"Tsk. Then take this!"

Around them Mystogan's five staves were set ready and summoned five different magical circle, one on top of the other above the designated target.

"Sleep! Fivefold Array: Mikagura!"

A single, powerful beam of light fell from the sky, passing through the five layers and descending like a fallen star.

But even that barely did anything as they went out of the smoke generated by the beam with seemingly no injuries.

"Are you done? If so then now is my turn."

Deciding it was time to end the fight, the white clad being leaped forward and closed the gap between they and their opponent in the blink of an eye. Hand shrouded by mana to form a blade of electricity, he slashed down violently.

Jellal had no way to escape, nor to protect. Too fast was the attack for him to properly react. That was it, something needed to be sacrificed. Not that he was too surprised since no battle was without risks. And it was not like a lost arm was going to tamper much his fighting ability.

But as that thought crossed his mind, a storm of fire and ice appeared in front of him and shielded him from the attack.

As it died out, two figure emerged out of it, two mages he knew very well.

"I'm totally fired up!" shout Dragneel, both his arms covered in flames.

"Looks like we are late for the party. Hey, Mystogan, think you need a helping hand?" followed Fullbuster, shirtless and with hands in position to launch another spell.

"Natsu!? And Gray too!? What are you two doing here?"

Shock and confusion. A bewildered expression was on his face for he could not believe what he was seeing. Either his eyes were playing tricks on him or it was real. But if so, how did those two ended up in such a place? Did they follow Erza by any chance? Probably, that was the only possible explanation he could came up with. Such reckless action. Yet Jellal was the last person that could say such thing since what he was doing was equally reckless as well. Still, it was dangerous for the kids to be here. What to do now?

"W-Wait for me, you lot. Geez, always leaving me behind." said Lucy as she entered the room panting and sweating, with Happy right behind her.

What to do now? The answer was clear, even if Erza probably wouldn't like it at all. But the situation was what was and that was the only option.

"...Sorry for the trouble. Seems like there is no other choices then, so I'll count on you all."

"Yet more unwelcomed intruders. This place's security is seriously lacking. Still maybe now, with this number, you'll finally manage to land a hit…" remarked the androgynous being, his sarcasm clear as the day.

* * *

_A world of blades forged by blood and shaped through thousands of battles. An isolated land unknown to time nor known to space. The converging point between reality and dream, formed by countless swords that built up hills of steel. Piles of weapons forgotten by man were scattered in that void land made of scorched earth, under a clouded sky filled with sadness and full of rusty gears. Like a broken clock, nothing seemed to move. Trapped in a everlasting present, it refused to walk forward._

_A single man standing there, his body still and imovable despite being pierced by many swords. White hair and tanned skin, clad in red and black, a broken soul filled with anguish and regrets that kept looking ahead instead of backing down. Holding tightly the black and white twin blades, he continued his fight against destiny and fate. Uncertain of victory, nor of loss, yet still struggling to fulfill his ideal._

_She looked at him, hand stretched in an attempt to reach his back. She run, but the distance would not shorten. He was a stranger, yet she felt nostalgia. There was pain in her heart, but she didn't know why. She tried to catch up, but could not for it was too soon._

_And then darkness obscured her vision as static took over her eyes once again._

* * *

Her eyes shot open as she stood once again. Looking at the enemy in front of her, a single thought crossed her mind. She needed to defeat him. Defeat him at all cost. And to do so she needed a weapon.

"...Not yet...I'll never lose to the likes of you!"

The image of two falchions appeared in her mind. A vivid picture of two beautiful work of craft that she never saw in her life, yet their history was etched inside of her. They were waiting to be called, and she would not let them wait any longerer.

Erza released her armor and equipped only a pair of blazing themed red trousers along a sarashi covering her breast, and nothing more. Normally it would have been a foolish move that of getting rid of her protection, but right now it was needed for her mana was running low and she required every bit she could muster up.

"I will change my very being to strength and defeat you!"

It was all or nothing.

"_I -m -he -on- -f m- s-or-._"

Words of power that came natural as breathing. An incantation she had never learned nor listened anywhere, but its sound was familiar and its meaning was clear. A body made of swords, a blade with a single purpose. Trully a reflection of her soul.

The lock of her heart was finally unlocked and the chains of the past finally broke. It was time to go beyond.

-Spirit and technique, flawless and firm-

Visualizing the best trajectory, she aimed for the neck and throw the first pair of swords toward the enemy.

Armed of a blood made scythe, Roa deflected the twin swords. But that was what she wanted. An opening presented itself the instant the Dead Apostole focused not on her, but on the attack.

-Our strength rips the mountains-

The second set took the place of the first one in her hand, and with them she went for chest and abdomen. Closing the gap with a single leap, she slashed with Kanshou and Bakuya.

-Our swords split the water-

"Futile."

But the crimson eyed monster caught their edges with his bare hands before they could sink in his body. Doing so tho left him unable to dodge her kick to the jaw that sent him flying toward the white ceiling.

-Our names reach the imperial villa-

Traps were set in the location were Roa stood, enabling a powerful discharge under Erza's feet as she stepped on them.

She spun back and threw away the second set of blades in air just like the first one, all the while a sword formed behind her and struck into the ground. Using it as a support, the scarlet haired mage landed on its hilt. With the third set of blades was already in her hands, ready to be used, she then jumped high into the sky

-The two of us cannot hold the heavens together-

Roa was ready to activate a spell, his hand, open and filled with Mana, pointed toward the girl beneath him. But as he was about to do so, a pair of swords struck him in the back. The first pair thrown had hit the target. He lost his focus, but that didn't bothered him much. The mage may getting closer, but she would not make in time. And in air she couldn't hope to dodge his attack.

"W-Wha-"

He didn't registered what happened exactly, but now both his arms were pierced by another pair of swords. He had been careless, and didn't notice the incoming second set of twin blades.

"Overedge! Triple-Linked Crane Wings!"

It was too late to stop her, and even the shield of blood did nothing to block the final strike of the last pair of married swords that were now much bigger. The cross slash of the two wing like longswords cut the Dead Apostoles body into pieces, this time for sure.

But Erza knew that she needed more to finish him. And so, as she turned around, a bow and a spiral shaped arrow were ready to complete the work.

"Caladbolg III!"

Not a second passed from when she nocked the projectile, and a dazzling light formed upon its contact with the head of the undead. A gust of wing blowed out and an explosion of devastating magnitudes got unleashed in the room. Once the mushroom like cloud disperesed, only stains of blood remained of the former Dead Apostole. But as she realesed a small breath of relief, a new twist of events happened.

"Argh!"

Something hit her. Something sharp. It was Roa. The monster was recovering. From a single, small piece of ankle he was rebuilding his entire body. Such thing was unthinkable, utterly impossible even for a Dead Apostole such as him.

"Kuku...Kukuku. You really had me for a second there. Under normal circumstances I'd be dead after that attack, but unfortunately in this night of full moon you can't cut me down no matter how many times you try."

A spear of blood pierced through her shoulder, and it would have hit the heart if she did not moved away at the last second. As it retracted, Erza's kneels gave away and she knelt down on the ground. Shacked by the unexpected turn of the situation, and powerless, she could do nothing.

"Pant...Pant...Pant…"

Weak. Her body was feeling extremely weak. It ached everywhere, from each muscle to all the bones. Her conscious was slowly drifting away, and this time there would be no recovery from it. It was painful to stay focused, to stay awake, or even to breath. The taste of blood in her mouth was the only thing she could feel as her senses were nearly all shut down. Was it the end? All her efforts were really in vain? She cursed herself for not being able to fight back, and the world for its unfairness.

"So do you surrender? In honor of having provided me with such wonderful show I'll kill you quickly. Maybe after this I'll make you join me."

But even then she refused to submit, her eyes contorted in a beastly gaze. A will of steel that did not bend and refused to do so until death.

"Relax. Once I've drunk your blood, you'll be mine. You know, if I was not so close to obtain eternity I would have used your body as the new vessel for my soul. But since I have no more use of that, I'll just let you serve me as a good puppet."

A small step. Another one. Taking his sweat time, he slowly but inexorably approached her at each ticking of the clock. It was time to put an end to the show.

"N-No, I'm not d-done yet…I-I'll not give up until the e-end…"

But as all hope was gone, a lightning came to her rescue and protected her.

"What?!"

And another followed, this one larger and more powerful.

"Tsk."

A laugh then boomed out of nowhere, echoing through all around without stop.

"Kuhahahaha."

* * *

Gray started with a flood of ice stakes.

The green haired being jumped up, but found Natsu waiting with his right fist ignited. They deflected the punch with easy and countered with a kick that sent the dragon slayer against the pile of ice.

Binds of light caught them in a tight grip, but it was not enough as they broke the spell almost instantaneously.

A rain of chains then came out of golden gates around them, but got blocked by a storm of arrow shot by Chiron.

As they landed, a wave of pillars started to emerge from the soil in response of their call. Natsu shot his breath attack and destroyed them all, but they leaped forward without care of the flames.

Gray went for a shield made of ice, but it didn't last even a second upon impact. In a single jump they closed the distance, and once close enough threw a kick that sent the two mages fly away.

Jellal charged a powerful spell, 'Altairis', but chains shot out of the floor and stopped him before he could finish.

Chiron tried for a surprise attack and went for a right hook, but it got caught just as it was about to hit.

A fist exchange followed, but since both were skilled fighters it ended in a stalemate.

They back jumped and touched the ground to create weapons of earth to launch. The blond Spirit could only defend and step back.

And at last a fist land on them, but it was not from someone that was in the room a minute ago. The nurse of steel had arrived, ready to end the conflict and to treat the injured.

* * *

Space warped, curling in a vortex of electricity.

"Not losing your will to fight till the very end. That's my accomplice for you."

A single bolt emerged out of it. And as it died out, a man clad in a black mist of Magic came out from inside of it.

"T-That voice…"

Erza knew it. A familiar voice from someone she knew very well. A nostalgic sound she couldn't possibly forget. Standing before her was her brother.

"Hahahaha. You've recovered quickly despite having just taken one hell of a beating. Never cease to surprise me, don't you? That face of yours tells me that your pretty down. But don't worry for I'm now here to assist you and will accompany you even down all the way to Hell if that is where our path leads!"

* * *

_Author's note:_

_**Doortolight47: **You're sort of right in that it is indeed Kingu, but not exactly the same situation as in the Babilonia Singularity and that is why their eyes are green and not purple. For answers you'll need to wait future chapters._

_Now that all the actors have appeared on the stage, it's time for the awaited finale of this arc. Hope you'll like it because I'm really put a lot of efforts to make it as good as possible. _

_And now to this chapter. The battle between Roa and Erza has ended with a clear winner. While the two were more or less on equal ground, what decided the end result was the location, which was full of traps since it was the Dead Apostole's personal boundary, and Roa's immortality, against which Titania had no counter. Even with a little bit of help, she still had no way to win. And as for Jellal's fight, well Enkidu was just too much and not even ganging up against them worked at all. _

_Well, see you all next time around. Bye!_

_P.S. Finally Yagyu came home through the 4 star ticket, but the lack of hero proofs has made it impossible to level his skills. Sigh, guess Imma back to farming. _


	16. Vengeful Demon

_The awaited final confrontation between Roa and Dantès is here! Ended up longer than I expected, but I'm really proud of the end product. Hope you like it, and if so do consider to leave a review ( that would surely be welcomed)! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail nor Fate/Stay Night._

* * *

**Arc 1**

**Chapter 9: Vengeful Demon**

* * *

_Extending__ a hand, the man touched the barrel. An ancient relic of eons ago, said to contain the ashes of God's Son._

_From its black surface a bit of light shone. __It kept glowing more and more. As it became brighter and brighter, everything around it started to vanish in a flash of pure white. __Reality broke down into pieces, falling like an old house. Cracks formed in the air, like a glass window that shattered into milion fragments._

_A new world appeared in front of him, one he could not comprehend. Law and physic had no meaning in there. Emotions and memories were no more. Past and future both connected yet still distant._

_A place forgotten by history, unreachable for mankind and beyond the horizon of life and death._

_No sound nor smell. No light nor shadows. Neither ground or sky. An emptiness that reached the absolute void. Only him and a black point in the distance._

_He walked toward it. No, it could not be called walk since his feet stood on the nothingness. He simply moved. Or was the black object moving toward him? There was no sense of space at all. And not even time. Few seconds? Minutes? Or perhaps hours? He could not tell for sure._

_He could not rely on his senses. Nor on his perception. All was weird and distorted. Nothing made sense anymore._

_But he kept going on, unconcerned by everything. His heart was still beating. He could feel it despite not being able to hear its beat. He was still alive despite not breathing nor thinking. His soul was still there, and so was his will. He could still walk ahead. He needed to walk ahead. Move. Move. Move forward._

_An eternity passed. A blink of eye passed. A thousand miles were travelled. A single step was made. And the two reached each other, as if fate united them._

_A black box, its shape constantly changing and never the same. It landed on his hand. Or was it always there to begin with? And then it opened, and Magic leaked out in the form of an angelic figure. A woman with wings. An angel, one of the Gods messenger. Too beatiful to be human, yet it didn't interest him in the least._

_Something enter inside him, this he could definitely tell. Powerful. Divine. Hot, so hot. An ardent flame, burning strongly as his desire for vengeance._

_The man then clenched his fist, and his vision blacked out._

_Waking up again in the temple, he looked up and the barrel was no more. It vanished, never to be found in the world again. But it did left a gift behind._

_A black flame now burned in the palm of his hand. A blazing, holy fire of darkness that held no love nor hatred. Only a purpose, that of scorching the wicked and evil._

_And a laugh followed. One that came from the heart, and echoed all around the altar on which he was standing._

* * *

"Oh ho, look at what we have here. Yet another uninvited guest has joined me tonight. Today really seems like the day of unexpected visits, doesn't it?"

A welcome not so welcome. Glancing with fiery, crimson eyes at the newcomer, Roa gave no sign of apparent interest. Or rather there was, but only in the form of a small hint of annoyance. The Grail should be fully filled by any moment now, and his wish would then become reality, so distractions were certainly not welcomed. The sole idea that someone could interrupt him right on that moment was quite disturbing to say the least. He was not going to allow any affront of sort. The nuisance was going to be eliminate as quickly as possible.

"Existing beyond the horizon of love and hate. The embodiment of vengeance, an eternal flame that will burn every sinful soul of this world, now stands before you. I am Avenger."

In saying this, Avenger's coat flapped up and revealed a suit beneath it. Wearing fully green, with a fedora hat above his silver colored hair, the man presented himself. A calm voice, slightly metallic, that showed no emotions. Yet rage and hatred were evident from his threatening way of speaking and feral gaze.

"Hmph. Like I already said, I have no interest in the name's of mere humans. A multitude of pebbles, one like the other. In my eyes, you are no more than miserable, pathetic creatures that struggles to even exist. Your only use is to serve me as mindless slaves."

A last statement before shutting down any possible discussion that may start in the middle of the battle. He was going to be fast this time. No need to enjoy nor unnecessary waste of time and energy.

"...Oh, but you'll need it."

Sparks cracked between the two.

The tense atmosphere in the room was overwhelming. The two sides were staring at each other, both waiting for the other to make a move. They were in a situation of stall, ready to attack as soon as a chance appeared. And then the stall broke.

The first one to strike was Avenger. With a simple motion of his index finger covered by lightning, he drew an horizontal line in the air. Manipulating the electrical forces between atoms, he tore Roa's body in two with a clean cut. A simple but effective ranged slash that easily bypassed any protection that the Dead Apostole had, directly damaging his body.

But such attacks had little effect on his opponent as his body reattached itself in mere seconds.

Then it was Roa's turn. A single flick of his fingers and nine purple circles materialized behind him. From each of those magical pentagrams emerged a snake shaped thunder bolt whose fangs were ready to bite the target. Like a single synchronized unit, they all attack simultaneously with their jaws all open to feast on the green cloaked mage. But the man didn't move an inch, his body still and his smile unfazed in front of those nine strikes.

"Let's see if the vengeful tiger's fangs can defeat the venomous snake of Hell."

Blue met purple. Lightning met lightning. Nine tiger shaped thunder bolts took form beside Avenger, and leaped forward. All it took was a single instant for the roles to switch, and suddenly the predators became the preys.

The reptiles tried to wrap themselves around the beasts in an attempt to crush them in mortal embraces, but failed and instead got mauled by the ferocious mammals whose sharp claws sinked deep inside their bodies. The attack got disrupted and a flash dazzled the entire room.

Punching the ground, Edmond summoned a stream of lightning that run across the floor. Pillars of energy erupted like geysers and rampaged in all directions, bombarding Roa in consecutive blasts of high voltage.

"I heard rumors about your research on eternal life...I must wonder if you truly believe in such worthless nonsense or you're simply crazy. Either way, that which you wish, the object of your desires, is meaningless. For you, who sought something like that in exchange of so many lives, not even Hell welcomes your wicked soul. But congratulations, sinner, for I have came in the Devil's place to punish you."

Holes filled Roa's body as his flesh got shredded into atoms. Yet it was no cause of concern for one with such level of regeneration. Barely perceivable was the level of pain he felt just now, which amounted to no more than a simple tickling at best. Big talks and no substance, just like any other human being.

A small cloud of smoke gave pause to the noisy sound of destroyed concrete. Then, like a shark pouncing to its food, the undead jumped out with a vicious smile. Collecting the spilled blood in a single scythe shaped weapon, he aimed to mow his enemy and color the floor of a beautiful red.

"You insolent weakling, how dare you talking like that to me? Maybe you're in need of a lesson of humility. I shall show you just how insignificant you are before me. And after the beating you're about to receive, let's see if you'll still be this talkative."

The strength of ten, no more like a hundred people were behind the strike. Too much, even with the use of Reinforcement, to withstand for Dantès. Yet what was supposed to be theoretically impossible was instead happening, and without much effort on top of it. Much to the Dead Apostole's astonishment, the man had not only had the gut to parry his attack but even managed to deflected. What method did he use to being able to perform such act? It didn't seem like he had used any Magic to empower himself, and yet with a single blade of plasma the mage overpowered the vampire.

"W-What?!"

The trick lied behind the edge of the crescent moon shaped blood construct, which was strangely covered in a faint, azure light. A slim layer of electrons was applied on top of it. Same as Dantés own sword. Since the weapon itself was no more than an aggregation of negative subatomic particles, it repelled the scythe without much trouble as if the two were magnets of the same charges.

His right hand, free of any disturbance, was already set in motion to trigger the gunshot. Inch and middle finger touched and parted few times in succession, and flicks of his fingers shook the air. Bullets made out of lightning traveled the distance between the two in a fraction of second, targeting eyes and mouth. The oval shaped blasts passed through those organs as if they were of butter, deforming the face of the target into a complete void.

The sudden and abrupt impacts made Roa's entire upper torso tilt back into a falling motion. But as more of those shots were to follow, violet bolts stormed down from above in response to their creator's command and prevented Edmond to further continue.

"Hahahaha. Is this you're best shot? Hope not because otherwise it would be a really shocking disappointment. After all this was just the appetizer. The main dish has yet to arrive."

As new fibbers took the place of the ones just lost, and new muscle tissues grew on top of the reformed skull, an expression of fury and contempt could be distinguished on his newly made face. Rage was boiling inside the undead, clear from the many engrossed veins on his forehead. With lips separated to show his white teeth gritted with each other, he unleashed a tide of dark matter to engulf the accursed human into a world full of madness and despair.

"Oh ho, feeling a bit mad aren't you? Guess what, so am I!"

That was it. The clown would pay dear for belittling him. Let his soul be trapped in the deep sea of eternal torment, along thousands of corpses, and scream shouts of pain and horror. A condition far worse then death, fitting for a preposterous worm. Only fear would r-

A line of blue energy, or better a column, which output was at least twice higher than any previous attacks, split the tide and hit the Dead Apostole.

"Cough?!"

What happened? What happened!? He could not feel his right arm. Looking at were it was supposed to be, he saw nothing. Where was it? For that matter none of his right side of the body, from his jaw to ankle, was there anymore.

"Hah, I like that shocked expression on your face. Not bad for a weakling, don't you think?"

Hand clenched tightly into a fist, Avenger punched the air and another beam got fired.

"Argh!"

And now the other side. How? Magical attacks of that level were not supposed to penetrate his barriers, much less wounding him to such extent. It pained. It pained. While Roa had high tolerance against pain, and had the part of the brain controlling its perception set to the lowest possible, it had still limits beyond which feedbacks could not be ignored. Had he reached that limit? And the laughs of the jester in front of him just fueled more his already uncontrollable rage. Forget enslaving the mage, he would tear him apart! Destroy him, with every single cells of his body turned to nothingness!

"What is it? Already in pain after just this? Are you sure you're not the one in need to learn some humility? What's next, tears? That would be truly unexpected."

Bobbles appeared across the surface of the matter which had yet to disappear. Some things arose from its inside, emerging as if they were part of it. Emotionless moans of pain came out of those Ghoul. Thousands of mindless puppets collected under a single spell, that was the nature of the black liquid. All moved simultaneously to attack Avenger.

In response a lightning powered dome was built around him, acting not only as barrier but also counter. Expanding quickly, it smashed against most of the walking corpses and vaporized them upon contact. Humans they may had been once, but he needed to destroy them for that was the only solution to bring rest to their souls.

Perhaps due to a mechanism of self preservation, the remaining surfaced Ghoul merged into a huge golem. An abomination with arms and legs coming out from random part of its gigantic mass which was tall four times the mage.

But as in the tale of David and the Golia, a single attack brought its end. Compressing thunders inside a small sphere, he lowered the barrier and threw it to the colossus's core. A castle of cards, big but fragile.

A clash of claws followed, as an enraged Roa leaped once again toward his opponent.

"Take this! And this! Die! Die! DIE!"

Both their fingers were covered by nails of lightning. Hit after hit, exchange after exchange, an endless brawl in which none seemed to prevail over the other. One had the physical advantage, but lacked the composure to deal a decisive strike as his head was filled with wild emotions. One could only dodge and counter, but made use of his extraordinary observational skills combined with a calm mind, clear of any distractions, to make predictions of most of the attacks.

Seeing as it was going nowhere, Dantès retreated back and created a flash of light so bright to blind the vampire for a second. With that providing an instant of opening, he teleported behind the Dead Apostole with a javelin, formed from dozens of bolts, floating on his palm. The next instant said spear was already impaled in the vampire's chest.

"Skewered vampire incoming. Well roasted, just like that huge ego of his."

Small daggers of lightning proceeded to tick out from shoulders, stomach and back, like the quills of a porcupine. But no screams, not even a single moan. The mouth, the lips and the tongue were all immobile, not letting a single sound out of the undead's throat. Strange. Too strange since moments ago he was screaming in agony. And then a sound came, but not from vocal cords. A heart just got pierced.

"Don't mess with me! Shut up and die!"

The once golden pair of jewels were now of a dark shade of yellow, losing their peculiar light as the cold, deathly hand of a demon stole the precious gift of life. The windows that allowed one to gaze at the world were now closed, as all activities of the body which stopped working simultaneously like a machine which lost its fuel from a hole in the tank. But if Dantès was very much dead, the same could not be said for Roa who now was standing behind his kill with a grin of delight. A simple trick that of using a copy to lure in the opponent, and the mage had fallen for it like a complete fool. The thought amused him to no end, and confirmed once more that humans were only big talks and no substance.

Only one thing was ticking him off. The smile which adorned the face of the foolish human had not disappeared even after death, which was both infuriating and strange since unlike himself the mage must have suffered a great deal of pain which usually would cause grimaces of shock the very least. And now that he observed better, where was the bloo-

"Agh! Gah! H-How can it be!? W-What is tHiS fEeLiNg!?"

A sudden roar of pain screeched all the ears in the room. A deafening shout of horror which made every window shatter and the floor vibrate violently. A second passed. Ten seconds passed. But it didn't give sign of stopping, and instead kept increasing in volume. Words could not convey the amount of pain the Dead Apostole was feeling. Unimaginable was not enough for sure. So intolerable that the vampire tried even to rip his own flesh, but to no vail.

An outburst of fire exploded from inside Avenger's corpse. Flames that spread on Roa, and were burning first his hand and then the arm. His whole body followed a moment later. But not common red flames, those which barely posed danger to his regeneration. Black flames, dark as the night, were devouring him nonstop. And it was not only his body, but also soul that was slowly losing vitality. He could feel his entire being fading away like a castle of sand in a windy day. Energy leaving, consciousness disappearing, and the world inevitably turning of a pitch black like the flames.

A shadow suddenly loomed behind him. A glimpse, and he knew immediately that it was Avenger. He had been outplayed by the bastard.

"I'm DiSaPeArInG! HoW DiD yOu BaStArD kIlL KiLl Me mE? cUrSe YoU aVeNgEr CuRsE yOu AvEnGeR! I wOn'T dIsApPeAr! I'lL rEaCh ThE rOoT tHe RoOt aNd BeCoMe EtErN-"

Valdamjong struggled with all his might. Refusing to die, denying the very concept of death, rejecting the fate he could no longer escape anymore. He expected a laugh. A sarcastic remark upon his defeat. A joyous exclamation of happiness. Anything that could give him further reasons to curse his enemy before leaving the world forever. He loathed the green coated bastard so much, so much, so much.

But such phrase never came. Instead something else was worded, a strange question so curious that it made the screams stop seconds before reaching the crescendo of its magnitude.

"Was it worth it?"

Was he talking to Roa? Or perhaps maybe about himself? Did he found fulfillment now that his revenge had been exacted? Looking back at what had been sacrificed to reach that point, had it been really worth it? At the end of the long journey a sense of fulfillment was supposed to fill the heart, yet why there was nothing but void inside him?

Their eyes crossed path yet again, but this time there was no anymosity between the two. Their gazes were directed toward at each other, yet rather than paying attention to the one in front of them it was like they were looking at something distant and afar.

Beasts of the same kind, both so obsessed with their goals and so ignorant of the people and the world around them. Sinful beings that had left behind their humanity, one metaphorically and one physically. Two sides of the same coin, both unable to give up to their wishes till the very end of their existance.

Was it worth discarding his own name and identity for revenge? Was it worth all the lives he ruined to achieve his vengeance? He still remembered the screamings of the people that pleaded to be spared, those who had nothing to do with the cult yet were related somehow to those that did. The amount of corpses he had left behind in his long quest, the sadness and despair he created with those dirty hands of his. Was it worth it?

Was it worth all the years spent in seclusion to research immortality? Was it worth all the people he betrayed and sacrificed to achieve eternity? Now that he thought of it, what was the reason why he started to seek it? Did he started out of personal, scientific interest? Or maybe because he feared death? If so, why did he feared it? Why? Was it worth it?

Perhaps if they had stopped along the way to reflect on it, they would have discovered the futility of their actions.

At the end of the day it was probably not. But even so that was the road he chose to walk. Never stopping for regret and doubts would surely crush him. Hell was the only thing waiting him at the end of his journey. His revenge was done, yet his job wasn't.

That was how his life was going to end, without achieving a single meaningful thing. Maybe it was fate that his dream never came to realization. After all despite clinging so hard to it he could not tell anymore why. And at the end, if his soul was gone forever then he no longer was part of the sad cycle of birth and death. Ironically in a way he had found what he was searching.

One was silent, contemplating the difficulties that awaited him in the future. A silence that symbolized his lone existance as the vengeful demon that would forever be so.

One laughed, reminiscing his own tragic life and ironic end. A desperate and fearful laugh that masqueraded his own weaknesses and miseries. Never he had ever felt so, and now that he did he finally understood that that was which made living beings alive.

As fire ate away the last bit of Roa, the tragedy started years ago had finally reached an end. Perhaps not the ideally one he had wished for in the past, but certainly one which Avenger could laugh of out of joy in the present.

Silence accompanied Edmond's stern look afterward, and then some tilts of the head next. It took a few blinks of eyes to get rid of the philosophical nonsense that was laying in his mind. No sense dwelling further on the past. What was done was done, the future was what really held importance now.

Looking around, the Magic which the walls had been soaked seconds ago were now slowly fading away. It was probably so for all the towers scattered around Fiore. What remained now to do was to fully dismantle the place alongside the prison beneath and it would be truly over. A small smirk formed on his face as he noticed Erza grunting in her sleep. But as he walked to the Holy Grail, flames in hand to burn the holy relic into ashes, the ground shacked.

A golden drill came out from under the floor, followed by a green haired man/woman jumping out of the hole and flipping backward in air while using more chains to take possession of the artifact.

"Seems like Roa has fallen. Fool, to think that I even warned him to not underestimate the enemies and he still got himself killed. Such an unfortunate course of events, but at least he did what he needed to do. The ritual is completed at last. With this, we're one step closer to the realization of our plan."

Dantès immediately sent a bolt to intercept them, but the projectile got sliced in half upon contact with a blade of mana.

"Where do you think you' re going? I don't know who you are, but if you're working for that Dead Apostole then I'll make sure to bury you here and now."

But as another strike was about to hit, a dazzling light came from the Grail. Both the object and its wielder were no longer tangible, slowly turning transparent as a ghost.

"Sorry, but I'm in a bit of hurry so therefor I have no time to play around any longer. Maybe next time."

And with that they got away. But Dantès didn't have the time to concern himself on the runway. He couldn't afford to as his focus was now solely diverted on his surrounding which was quickly crumbling apart.

"Tsk."

Carrying the scarlet headed girl on his arms in princess style, Edmond charged mana in his circuits and prepared to bail out.

"W-What's happening here? The entire place is crumbling!" muttered a now awake Titania, confused and slightly blushing for the awkward position she was in.

"Hmph. You're finally awake. Well, the short version is that without its creator to keep it together, this tower has no meaning to exist anymore and is going down. That means we better leave this place before it falls on our heads."

* * *

"Hey hey, everything is falling apart." shouted Gray, his words filled with panic, while nocking more arrows of ice to destroy the crumbled fragments of ceiling that were falling down.

It had been sudden, too sudden. After a violent clash between two attacks, some smoke arose and the next instant the enemy had vanished. A quake then followed moments later, and everything started breaking apart from that instant on probably as a result of it.

"What the hell is going on here? And where did that green bastard go?" growled a confused Natsu while looking around, fire covering his fists as he punched yet another piece of concrete that would otherwise crush them.

The situation had escalated so rapidly that the dragon slayer couldn't follow at all. One second they were battling the weird dude clothed in white and the next instant they were now dodging debris left and right.

"...Let's go. It's too dangerous to stay here."

A suggestion that shocked most of his allies, and even himself a bit to say the truth. Really Jellal was not a man to easily retreat, and would not under normal circumstances. But with the road toward the next floor completely destroyed, there was no way to access the upper level. Not in a short amount of time at least, and he needed to think of the kids and their safety first.

"Wait, are we just going to leave Erza behind and escape on our own?"

"No way we're leaving her behind!"

Both fire and ice Magic users were very against said idea. Unthinkable of any member of Fairy Tail to leave a comrade behind. But the situation really didn't allow for other options. Of this same idea was also Nightingale, who punched a nearby wall and created a hole from which they could escape since all the exits were blocked by rocks and it would take too much time to descend floor by floor anyway.

"Where do you think you're going? You two are leaving with me."

Grabbing both Fullbuster and Dragneel, she jumped out of the structure without hesitation.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

"Wait for me, Natsu." cried out Happy as he followed behind the three.

With all her teammates gone, Lucy was left behind insecure to how to proceed since she could not fly nor did possess a Spirit that could do so.

Just as she was reflecting on what to do next, Mystogun grabbed her and proceed to jump in turn.

"Eh?! W-Wait-"

"Hold tight and don't let go. We're jumping out of here."

"Hey...She's going to be ok, right...?" muttered the Celestian Spirit mage, feeling a little guilty for leaving behind her friend.

"You mean Erza? Don't worry, she's the toughest person I had ever met. She'll manage somehow." replied the cloaked man, his voice brimming with confidence. He was sure that Erza had been successful, that she was probably the reason why the hellish tower was now going down. Such was his trust in the girl he considered his best friend, and maybe one day something more.

Meanwhile outside most of the prisoners were aboard some ships on the dock, ready to leave the island.

* * *

_Author's note:_

_We made it lads. We finally reached the end of this first arc which I'm proud of say is better than I thought it would be when I started. And the reception is so surprisely good that I have no words to describe how happy I am. Thank you for the continuous support XD_.

_Now, first I'll give you an 'answer' regarding the possible relation between Erza and Emiya. Yes, they are connected and there is a valid reason why she can make use of Emiya's Magic and even perceive his inner world. Said reason will be a big part in some future arcs. A big hint was already dropped somewhere on the earlier chapters. Have fun theorizing._

_For now Titania doesn't know much of her own powers, even if she can make use of it better than in the past. As she becomes more experienced and acquires more weapons to add to her arsenal, the marble will slowly unlock itself. Her affinity is that of blades, but she can also project armors and shields since she has a large mana pool tho much less quickly._

_Now onto this chapter. The first part is a small flashback about how Dantès acquired the black flames. I read somewhere this theory that he actually acquired them in Jesus's tomb or something like that, and thought it would be cool to integrate it here._

_For the fight, Dantès literally whipped the floor with Roa. While both had still tricks in their sleeves to play, especially Edmond, at the end it was our favorite edgelord who had the upper hand. Roa lost his coolness in the middle of the fight, both because of the heavy injuries sustained that triggered pain for the first time since decades and also because Avenger's constant tauntings, and this proved fatal. Yeah, I had fun writing Dantès's dialogues. Him trashtalking his opponent is in character I think, especially toward those he really hate. By the way did you know that it is canon that at some point those two fought? The reason was similar to those in this fic in that it was Roa who caused Faria's imprisonment and Edmond went to avenge his mentor. In that case it was human Edmond versus Roa, so things went obviously differently. Consider this a kind of rematch between the two in that sense hahaha._

_Enkidu's objective had always been the Grail and now he finally obtained it. The og plan was for Roa to open the door to the Root and acquire eternity while clay boy would obtain the holy artifact as reward for their services. Things ended differently, but they still managed to achieve their goal. For what cause they want the cup you'll find out in the future._

_Lastly the last bit is odd in that I needed for Jellal and team Natsu to bail out quickly, but it is not really in character for them to leave Erza to her own device. Hope you'll forgive this oddness (at least you got to see best nurse do some crazy stunt eheh )._

_Next chapter is an epilogue. More characters are to appear, one of which I can't wait to introduce in this fic. See you next time._


	17. What lies beyond revenge

**_Hmmm, is the mic working properly? Are you sure, like really sure? Because it doesn't seem to m- Ok, never mind. I've just noticed that I had accidentally unpluged it hahaha. Ok, everything's ready! _****_One, two, three..._**

**_Mwahahahaha! You thought that it would have been that boring idiot of a writer to take this spot as usual, didn't you? But today it will be me, the Demon King of Sixth Heaven Demon Archer, to present the new chapter. The time has arrived at last. Let's go on the journey that will unify this nation by force!_**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail nor Fate/Stay Night._

* * *

**Arc 1**

**Chapter 11****: ****What lies beyond revenge**

* * *

"So, let's see if I understand it clearly. Erza and Mystogun went to the Château d'if to destroy the facility. Natsu, Gray and Lucy followed. And Nightingale went after them to bring them back on Laxus's order. Right?"

Everyone in the room nodded simultaneously, all slightly mortified to have made the old man worry so much.

The air was a bit stifling inside the office, probably due to the high numeber of people currently present. While not small by any means, with seven presences the space definitely seemed a little cramped.

Erza and Jellal were in front of Makarov's desk, their eyes full of guilt like those of criminals waiting to be judged in a court. Both were covered in bandages and on wheelchair as a result of the many wounds received, forbidden to accept any new quest before full recovery. It was sort of unbelievable for the two most level-headed mages of the guild to attempt such craziness, but not so hard to understand why they did so.

The other members of the team Natsu were mostly fine, Lucy and Happy due to the fact they played a more supportive role while Natsu and Gray thanks to their peculiar Magic, all their gazes fixed on the old man in anxious wait for his next few words.

Makarov could hardly contain his headache. He had been gone just for a few days to attend to a meeting and looked forward to relax a bit, maybe by drinking some good sake, once finally at home again. Never in his wildest imagination he would have thought that something like that would happen in his absence. He was already used to the fact that tha kids constantly brought home troubles, but this was the first time such an absurd situation happened without him know it.

"The Council is probably going to complain a lot for this unauthorized mission. They always do even at the slighest breach of the rules... But you know what, you kids did great and don't need to worry for your actions. Who cares about the higher-ups, it's not like we did anything bad anyway." ended the Master with a cheerful grin.

The kids had done good, and it would be disrespectful to think otherwise. Sure the Council would send complains, but one more on top of dozen of others was no big deal.

"Master!"

"Old man!"

"But a transgression is still a transgression. Erza and Mystogan, your injuries are more than enough of a punishment. As for the three of you, I'll let Muramasa and Nightingale decide for me later on."

Three thumbing sounds followed one another. The trio whose fate was in the hands of the head nurse were now sweating nervously, their eyes going white at the terrible news.

"Also, you know that you can stop waiting outside of the door and come join us in this discussion if you want to."

At first it seemed like the old man was talking to nobody, but then from the shadows emerged Avenger.

"Eh, perspicacious as ever. Long time no see old man, I passed to say hello before leaving."

"It sure has been. So I guess you're still wandering alone, aren't you? Don't you think its time to settle down? My offer still stands, Fairy Tail's doors are always open for you."

At that the silver haired man's expression shifted drastically, turning into one of incredulity. Being asked not once, but twice the same, futile question was probably the most stupid thing to ever happen to him. Unconceivable.

"Hmph, you trust too much other people. How can you be so sure that I'll not bring ruin to you or your guild one day? Let's be clear, I'm not a good person. My hands are already deep red…"

Silence. Nobody in the room dared to speak, everyone for their own reasons. Either because they were terribly shocked from such reveal or were filled with uneasiness.

"...Hmmm, I guess you must have killed a lot on your journey. But from what I have heard the ones you killed were nefarious individuals of the worst kind, each one with a list of crimes that can't be counted with both hands..."

As a parent of many children, Makarov felt like it was his duty to try alleviate some of Avenger's burden. While obviously not forcing him to listen or showing pity, he believed that giving him a bit of guidance would surely help the youngster to find a meaning in his life.

"Sooner or later judgement would have fallen on them even if you did nothing. Not trying to justify your actions or anything, just that at the very least you prevented more innocents from suffering by their hands."

"That doesn't change the fact that I am a murderer. I can't be forgiven, not after having taken so many lives."

Dantès showed no emotions, but it wasn't like he felt nothing. Rather the bit of humanity left inside him was skillfully hidden behind the cold, apathetic demeanor of his which refused to show any sign of weakness or uncertainty. He could not afford to, nor he did want to. He alone was going to walk the path of vengeance, despised by the whole world if needed so.

"I am not saying that you are not. A murderer is a murderer at the end of the day, and that will not change no matter what. Regardless of the reasons, the act of taking another's life is wrong on principle. But let me ask you, did you enjoy do it?"

A look of surprise and discomfort. Something was wrong, for his inside was burning. He felt strange, and confusion overwhelmed him. So unsettling, but why? Why the words of an old fool were having so much effect on him? He should just ignore them and leave, like his usual. But something was stopping him.

"No, you clearly not. You are conscious that you're wrong, yet keep following this path knowing this. You're still not in peace even when the object of your revenge has been achieved. That tells me you're not doing it for yourself only. You are doing it with the well-being of others in your mind. As such a person like you, who shoulder such burden alone, cannot possibly ever be bad."

From discomfort to disgust. Such foolishness. Unbelievable. Truly unbelievable. Had the old man gone senile? Thinking he could understand him of all the people? Showing concern? Unneeded! There was no reason for him or anyone to carry for a wanted criminal! He wanted to laugh at this absurdity, at this farce. Why was he so kind to a murderer? Just why? He simply had no answer, his mind unable to comprehend it.

Yet despite all those negative thoughts and self-loathing, Dantès felt a lingering bit of warmth in those words, like a single beam of light reaching the deep of the abyss for the first time in years. His eyes, for a single moment, returned back to those of his younger years, full of humanity and nobility.

"...Tsk, you sure have a way with words. I still remain on my stance of not associating myself too much with others. My quest has not ended yet, but…"

A small grin formed as he returned to his usual self. He was not sure of the future, but perhaps there was something that lied beyond his quest. An answer different to the one he reached, but still possible. An end he could truly be happy with, that Rob would be proud of.

"...I guess a little break will do good. I'll stick around here for the time being. And who knows, perhaps I'll have a change of mind in the future and really end up join your guild. Wait and hope. Attendre et espérer."

"S-So you'll stay with us, Dantés-niisan? This isn't a dream right? But do you have a place to s-stay? If not, then w-would you like to move in my apartment? I have a lot of empty rooms and-"

"Wait a moment, Erza. If I remember correctly, aren't you living in the girl's dormitory of the guild? If so a man like Dantés can't enter there, much less live there. But don't worry, I'll let him lodge on my place, which just happens to have also a lot of free rooms."

"H-Hey, Jellal, that's not fair! T-Then I'll just buy a new house!"

"Hahahahaha."

* * *

-The next day-

Fairy Tail main building, inside the office of the guild master.

The morning light shone brightly through the window, celebrating the start of yet another day. As usual Makarov spent most of the time filling papers, most of which were apology letters meant to be sent to the Council for the many troubles caused by his guild.

As he took a deserved break while sipping some warm tea prepared by Mirajane, a sudden call arrived.

On the other side of the lacrima was a woman. Black, long hair with fiery red eyes. Wearing a military uniform with a red mantle on top of it, and a hat with a golden, flower themed decoration in its middle. Two swords were by the sides of her seat, one of normal size inside a yellow sheath and one really large inside a black sheath with chains around it. A self-centered, hot headed mage with great tactical mind and powerful combat prowess, her name Oda Nobunaga.

A long discussion then followed.

"Mhwhahahaha. I dare those fools of the Council to lie a finger on the guild. Should they attempt anything, I'll fill their empty heads with my magical bullets."

"I see you're cheerful as usual, Nobu. Well, how are things going on your end?"

"About that, old man Tajima has heard of the plan to assault the base of that dark guild which name is too difficult to remember so I'll not say it. We should see each other soon since me and the man-slayer have been dispatched to give a helping hand in the operation."

But before she could say anything else, one of her underlings came to inform her of something.

"E-Ehm Oda-san, you're needed in the main hall."

"Fool! Don't you see I'm having a discussion here? Just say to Hijikata that I'm not here. That pickle-eater will never suspect anything."

"S-Sorry, but its an order from Tajima-sama himself."

At the mention of Shinsengumi's current Commander, Nobunaga's heart stopped for a second.

"What, the old man!? Why didn't you say it sooner, maggot! I better hurry, before he starts to look me with that frightening gaze of his. Seems like duty calls, Master. Lets see each other soon. Bye."

With that the transmission suddenly interrupted without Makarov even being able to properly say a goodbye.

"Sigh. That damn brat hasn't changed a bit in those years. Always a hot head. But that's why everyone in the guild seem to get along very well with her. I recall Natsu used to idolize her. Maybe that's why their way of doing things are so similar... Well time to take a look at this month's financial situation of the guild…"

A scream then echoed through the entirety of the building, nearly smashing all the windows.

* * *

In the workshop of a certain red headed blacksmith, sounds of hammering were rhythmically repeated. Or so it happened for a while, before suddenly shutting down.

"Ughhh, damn it. It's so boring."

With those words Natsu collapsed on the ground, the fire of the furnace in front of him burned out as he stopped feeding it. The dragon slayer had an exhausted look, his will practically nonexistent after hours spent doing the same thing over and over agin.

Putting aside his tools, Muramasa sighed in disbelief at the boy's complain.

"Stop complaining kid. Makarov went easy on your punishment for following Erza without authorization. At least you ended up here helping with my work. Or do you prefer to give a hand to Florence?"

"Hihihi. Oh look, Natsu, I have just seen Nightingale from this window." added jokingly Happy, hands covering his mouth as to prevent a loud laugh to escape.

At the drop of said name, Dragneel immediately rose from the ground with a fearful expression. Turning his head left and right, he made sure to confirm her presence before realizing it had been a lie. Then he returned once again to his helping role as the blacksmith restarted his work.

"Good. Now if it isn't asking too much, please increase the heat of your flames."

"Ok, here it comes!"

Beside the blue Exceed were the old geezer's two adopted grandchildres, Onui and Tasuke, both watching with taste the boy's display of Magic. While not rare, it had always been intriguing to observe the many different forms of Magic that existed in the world, especially since they were still young and not allowed to venture outside of Magnolia.

"Go go Natsu-san."

"Gaga go."

* * *

"Gray-sama, Juvia here has came to have a little check up."

As Juvia made her presence known to those present in the infirmary, Nightingale turned around and welcomed her while preparing a seat.

"So what are the symptons?"

"I-I feel very hot eveytime I gaze at Gray-sama. Even a single glance of his can make me burn like crazy and melt away like pudding. And when I'm near him my heart pounds so fast that it seems it could explode at any second…"

For any person with a bit of knowledge in the field of love, the natural answer would be that the girl was clearly in love. Unfortunately Nightingale did not have such understanding of human emotions, and as such reached another conclusion.

"Fast heart beatings. Heat caused probably by fast blood pumping. Gray, is our x-ray lacrima still functioning?"

"Unfortunately no. We ordered a new one, but it will arrive tomorrow."

One second later a cold chill run through Gray's back as the head nurse stood up and went to a corner of the room. He didn't know why, but his instinct was telling him it was better to leave the room as soon as possible.

"Then I'll have to resort to the old methods and open up your chest to see if your heart is still healthy or you need a new one. Now stay still while I'll go take the needed instruments for the operation." stated Nightingale as she returned with a tray full of surgery tools.

"G-Gyaaaaa! Gray-sama, please help me!" screamed Juvia, hiding behind the helpless devil slayer who could not escape in time.

"H-Hey, Juvia, what are you doing hiding behind me?...W-Wait Nightingale-san, let's calm down and discus-"

Too late, as Gray could not finish his sentence and was already flying in air.

"Argh. Such headache. Hey, you lot, there is someone trying to sleep here. If you want to scream, do it out of here." shouted a girl from behind the curtain of one of the beds in the place, her head hurting like crazy from all the sounds around.

Curled inside the sheet and with the pillow covering her head was Cana Alberona, a member of Fairy Tail with the bad habit of drinking wine at any hour of the day.

* * *

Outside of Fairy Tail's guild building, right beside the training ground, Erza looked at the wood in the distance, wind blowing her scarlet hair and warm rays of light falling on her patched cheeks. A quite and peaceful atmosphere surrounded the place, something she was not used to since there was rarely a moment such as that at Fairy Tail. But it was really enjoyable, especially in days in which she wanted a bit of space only for herself.

Then the sound of foot steps started to be heard, meaning that someone was coming and that her private time was over. As she rotated her wheel chair of ninety degree, her eyes met those of Jellal who was walking toward her.

"Hm? Heilà Jellal. Already on crutches? I thought it would have taken longer for you to leave the wheelchair."

"Yeah, other than a few broken bones and some burns there were no major wounds. You?"

"Less lucky than you. I got my stomach gutted after all. If it was not for Nii-san I wouldn't be here now. Once again I got saved by him. Sigh. I thought I got stronger in those years, but guess it was not enough."

The near death experience made them realize once again just how harsh reality was. They had been too naive in believing that only two people would have been enough, even if they were S ranked mages.

"We were really reckless, weren't we?" said Fernandez while scratching his cheek, obviously regretting his not so good idea after all that happened.

"Maybe we should have planned better the mission before heading out like two reckless idiots." replied Erza, pulling out her tongue clumsily as to acknowledge the grave mistake they did.

After that few moments of silence followed. Awkward as it was, they both didn't know of what to talk exactly.

"...You know, I always wonder what would have happened if we never had met Dantès and Rob. Perhaps we would have died in that cursed place, but maybe Rob would be still alive…" murmured then Jellal, a melancholic look on his face as he did so.

"...We can't change the past. What has happened can't be undone. I would gladly exchange this life of mine for his, but you know well that he would certainly refuse saying that we are more important than him. We can only walk toward the future and live in his stead, as he wished for us. This is our duty as survivor of that hellish island."

Some wounds usually take awhile to fully heal, such as the ones beneath the bandages on her. Some others may take years to do so, or maybe will never recover at all, like the scars that she beard inside her heart. Cuts that weren't real yet hurt as if they were so, carved so deeply that no amount of time passed would ever erase them. But that didn't mean that it was impossible to easy down the pain, and win over the despair. Rather it was precisely because it was possible that they should persevere through difficulties and keep hoping.

"You have always been the strong willed one between us. Guess it was stupid of me to think that way. And at least we ended up here in Fairy Tail, which is probably the most fortunate thing that could have happened to us."

A grin formed on the boy's lips, fondness brimming from his words.

Stretching her arm toward the vast sky, Erza closed her hand in a fist. As a flock of birds flew by, and a second of silence passed, she turned to Jellal with a bright smile which made the blue headed mage blush a little.

"Fairy Tail is part of us. Our home, where our family is. I can't possibly imagine a life without you, Natsu, Gray, Lucy or anyone else. I love this place, and will do anything in my power to protect it."

"Same here."

* * *

The orange colored light of the sunset reflected upon the crystal clear water of the river signaled the end of a long, tiring day for Lucy as she made her way toward home.

"Ahhhh, I'm so tired. Today sure has been a busy day. I helped out Nightingale-san all day and now my shoulders feel so stiff. Sigh, at least I'm home now. There shouldn't be anyone here since everyone are also busy with their own things…" murmured the sleepy girl between herself, as she let out a loud yawn while unlocking the door of her apartment. She hopped that at least for once a quite evening would pass.

But unfortunately for the blonde mage, her hopes were destined to remain such. Upon entering inside what was supposed to be an empty living room, she found a familiar face, sat down on the armchair, waiting for her with a small smirk on the side of his closed lips.

"Aaaaaahhhhhh! Y-You!?"

Greeting her was the fedora wearer that she had met the previous day, the one Erza had called brother.

What was Avenger doing there of all places he could have been!? Having uninvited guests enter without previous notice was certainly no news to Lucy since she was already used to that sort of situations thanks to her friends's numerous attempts, but for someone she barely knew to do so was quite a shock. Especially since the man in question didn't really seemed the type to socialize much.

"Kuhahahaha. Indeed it is me. So I heard that you were a writer and decided to pay you a visit. Since I found nobody at home, I took the liberty of preparing some coffee. Here, take some."

She watched with stunned look the silver haired mage offering her the cup on the table as he held a strangely familiar book on with his right hand, confused if it was dream or reality. But uncertain as she was of what exactly to think about the strange situation she was in, she didn't really hesitate much to sit down and take a sip of the brown drink which was emanating a really sweat and irresistible aroma. Perhaps it was due to the fact that it was Erza's older sibling, but Lucy was feeling somewhat comfortable around him.

"Hmmm. So good!"

"Right? By the way I read some of the stuff you wrote and let me say that they are really well done. You certainly have the gift of the pen."

At those words, and having finally remembered why the book in Avenger's possession looked so oddly familiar, Lucy's cheek lighted up as a Christmas three, becoming red as tomatoes. As her level of embarrassment reached levels never seen before, the liquid inside her mouth spilled out like a water jet.

"Argh! Y-you read the book that I'm writing!?"

"What's the matter, too shy to show your own work? Don't be. You should feel proud of it."

What to say? What to respond? There were no particular reasons to not let others read her works, but...but...

"N-No, it's just that I'd like to finish it first before someone read it…"

Somehow she just didn't feel like to share it with others for now. It was not like she wanted to hide it, nor she thought that it was terrible at all. But for the time being she just didn't want to show it to anyone.

"Then I'll wait eagerly for the day you'll complete it. Well, time to go. I'll pay a visit from time to time, so if you need an opinion on your writings, I'll gladly check them out."

And with that Dantès got up and disappeared in a bolt of lightning like his usual, leaving the girl speechless and more confused than ever.

While partially true that Lucy's talent in writing had picked his interest, in reality the reason for his visit was more to have a better idea of the type of people that were part of Fairy Tail and the kind of friends that the two little pipsqueaks, Erza and Jellal, had made in those years.

* * *

Someone knocked the door.

"Laxus, we're back."

It was Freed Justine. The blonde dragon slayer recognized almost immediately his voice.

"Yo, if it's not Freed. Already back from the meeting eh? Sonner then I expected. Guess nothing happened on the way, right?"

A man with long, green hair and eyes of the same color, with a beauty mark beneath the left one. Bangs were covering the right side of his face and two thunder shaped spikes were on top of his head. Behind the red coat he was wearing there was a pair of wrapped spears.

"Yes, well sort of..." replied Freed as he sheepishly scratched his left cheek while looking behind to his two teammates.

"Hmm, what's the matter Ana?"

The first was a small girl with purplish hair and eyes, her head covered by a black hood attached to her cloak of the same tint. Her name was Ana.

While her face was only partially visible, it could be see clearly that she was pouting.

"Sigh. Did Bickslow do something again to unnerve you?"

The other one was a tall man wearing a black outfit, his eyes covered by a visor and his hair by a hood with a violet crest on its top. His name was Bickslow.

"H-Hey, It was not intentional. I-" tried to explain Bickslow, but his sentence never managed to finish as it got cut by Ana.

"Cake."

"Uh?"

"Let me explain, Laxus. Last night, after dinner, Ana had saved a piece of cake to eat later on. But Bickslow, not knowing this, thought nobody wanted the last slice so ate it himself." followed Freed while casting a disappointed gaze upon his comrade in black.

"Seriously Bickslow, you should have really asked before doing what you did. Stealing sweets from a kid is just, I don't know, the worst thing you could possibly ever done?"

"Not you too, Laxus. Sigh. Imma already apologized a hundred of times and even promised to buy you a whole cake. Would you not forgive this poor Bickslow?"

The man was desperate for forgiveness, and was practically begging at that point.

"Forgive. Forgive." added the small, flying dolls around him, which were part of his Magic.

"Two. Two cakes, that's the least you can do to repay me for the missed delicious, sweet flavor of baked cream." replied Ana after a bit of reflection, her fingers in a v-pose as to cement her demand.

"T-Two cakes!? Don't'cha think its lil much? Are you sure you'll be able to eat both with that little stomach of y-"

Not a single word more. It was either two or being hated forever. The girl's eyes were piercing Bickslow's inside, making him unable to say anything further as to not incur in her ire.

"Ok, ok. So be it. Two cakes. Are we ok now?"

"...Make sure to reflect on your action."

"Well, now that the squabble has been resolved let me tell you about your next assignment."

Laxus took out a letter from a drawer and passed it to Freed, its content a formal request from the king to all the guilds of Fiore.

"Already a new assignment? And what is it?"

"We're leaving for the Capital of Fiore, Uruk. Or was it Roma? Ah, wait maybe Crocus?...Why the hell does it have so many names anyway? What were they thinking when they decided to rename the city with the advent of each new king? Leaving aside the name, the king has ordered each of the major guilds of the Kingdom to send mages to aid in the Demonic Front. Seems like this year the amount of beasts far exceeds that of the previous years."

"Guess not even the mighty forces of the king can deal with such high number of rampaging beasts...Wait, we? Are you also going with us, Laxus!?"

A small hint of joy was in the green headed mage's voice, his excitement visibly high at the idea of fighting alongside his lord once more after so much time.

"I need to go there anyway to register the guild to this year's Grand Magic Games anyway."

"Wohooo, its been such a long time since we of the Thunder Legion have gone on a quest with Laxus. Aren't you excited Ana?"

While Bickslow's reaction was the same as Freed, just more exaggerated, Ana had a more controlled response, with a mix of happiness and indifference.

"I don't remember ever accepting of being part of this group...Whenever. Just don't get in my way during the mission, Bickslow."

* * *

Beside Magnolia's Kardial Cathedral, a prestigious religious building located in the middle of the town, there was the city graveyard filled with many tombstones. Standing before one of those was Elfman with a bouquet in hand.

"Lisanna, your big bro has been training a lot lately. I finally managed to take full control of my power and I'll make sure to show everyone Fairy Tail's worth at this year's Grand Magic Games. Please watch me from Heaven, my dear little sister, for I, Elfman Strauss, will put up a show so manly that none shall forget."

With that Elfman bid farewell to his deceased sister while delicately putting down the flowers. Slightly sad, but with renewed resolve and determination, the young Strass walked away.

A while passed, and once the large man's figure completely disappeared from sight Mirajane came out from behind a nearby three.

"Did you hear him, Lisanna? Even that crybaby of Elfman has moved on and grown to be a reliable person. Everyone has been doing their best at the guild...And yet why am I the only one unable to do so?..."

Small tears dropped on her rosy cheeks as the memories of that dreadful day flashed in her mind, the day she had killed Lisanna.

* * *

_Author's note:_

**_Ehhhhhhh!? W-Wait, that is all!? Wasn't this supposed to be my blazing debut, the glorious revelation of the hottest character of this story?! _**

_E-Ehm, maybe next time Nobu? ..._

_Ok, sorry for the wait lads. Originally the chapter was supposed to come out two days ago, but I accidentally deleted the file :(_

_Luckily I managed to rewrite it, so no worries at all hahaha. _

_**Doortolight47: **There are already hints in this chapter, but the next one will definitely give you a clearer answer._

**_The Loud Person: _**_Yup, and not only from those two hehe._

_**Dxhologram: **Those three will appear in this story, and will definitely play a big role. As for Gilgamesh VS Enkidu, it will eventually happen and will be epic. _

_**Gen2324: **Next chapter will be Gilgamesh focused so look forward to it!_

_**Journey to the end**: Still can't say for sure. There are many characters I want to add, but I also need to give to each enough screen time to shine._

_**Shiroyasha Rises:** Guess you guessed wrongly :)_

**_fruitspunchsamurai-987: _**_You can't imagine. Just wait and you'll see what I have in plan._

_First, let me say that ep18 of Babylonia anime is just WOW. Literally sakuga moments left and right, with animations that were simply amazing. Can't wait for the next episode._

_Second, more characters appeared. And more are going to join soon. __Also a chapter full of interactions between Fairy Tail's and Fate-verse's characters. Did you like it?_

_Well, this is all. Be sure to leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter and see you next time!_

_...But not before leaving a small sneak peak of next chapter:_

"Oh ho, not bad. I have slayed many of your kind, but you are the first one to survive so long. I commend you, black dragon, for your tenacity."

"Don't you dare lump me with those weaklings! I am Acnologia, the ultimate dragon of Apocalypse! None shall stand in my way!"


	18. Golden King and Black Dragon

**_Rejoice, mongrel. Today it will be me, Gilgamesh the King of Heroes, to announce the new chapter. Behold to my golden persona, and lustrate your eyes to mankind's oldest legend._**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail nor Fate/Stay Night._

* * *

**Interlude 1**

**Golden King and Black Dragon**

* * *

In a valley far in the east of Fiore, a battle was taking place. Or better, it reached the end as soon as it started. No, to begin with it could not even be considered a battle but more of a hunt. There was no doubt that it was a one sided clash which result was clear even before its start.

"Damn it...To think that it exists something powerful like you...The World is truly of a big place, but I guess I will not to get to visit it all..."

Touching the place where once was his arm, the cloaked mage with red hair could only wait for his inevitable death. Facing against the force of nature in the form of a huge, black dragon with blue, spiraling marks all over his scales, there was nothing the man could do to survive, much less win.

He had known from the moment he had accepted the quest that it would have been a dangerous mission. Yet he didn't expected that his opponent would be this strong. Such power was beyond anything he had ever seen. All it took was an instant, a single moment, for his left limb to turn in nothing but blood and most of his bones to be crushed into dust. No amount of experience could have prepared him for that, no spell was going to save him. It was not supposed to end like that, many people were waiting for him at home and he could not let them down. Yet there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Death approached. Not even time to mentally bid farewell to his family that the beast was already before him, his sharp claws ready to reap his flesh into pieces. Few meters, no centimeters now separated him from his inevitable, cruel fate. Just enough for a single drop of sweat to fall, and then darkness took over as red covered his vision. Or so it was supposed to happen, yet it didn't. Suddenly the air above him spiraled as multiple trails of light were hurled from far away.

Thunderous sounds of heavy objects impacting on the ground in front of him resounded again and again. Shiny blades of different shape and dimension hit the soil many times, raising thick clouds of dust at each hit.

As the humongous creature leaped back and soared up in the sky, an immense gust of wind originated by his massive wings blew away the smoke. Now clear of obstructions, the mage could see clearly the origin of the swords which were turning in mana particles and fading away. A single person was floating in opposition to the flying reptile, only one, but he was no common man.

"Move aside, mage. Things are going to get dangerous from here onward. You better not get caught in this fight if you still cherish your life."

Not a suggestion nor a warning, but an order to be followed. Words which showed no concern nor pity, emotionless as if it was directed to nobody at all. A powerful yet calm voice brimming with charisma and authority. And so the mage did, knowing that in his condition he would only be of hindrance, and only turning back once to get a glimpse of his savior before running at full speed.

Gleaming eyes red in color, fiery as those of a warrior, which radiated an aura of supremacy. A blonde man, his spiky hair standing up like blazing flames leaving a single tuft on his forehead. A perfectly proportioned and defined body, with red lines running across the sides of his chest and abs. A golden mantle over his shoulders, golden earrings hanging on his ears, golden boots and protections covering his lower half up until the stomach. A red piece of cloth, adorned with golden paintings, was attached to his hips by metallic pads. And twin, curved blades floated behind him, their level of mystery astonishing to say the least.

It was the King of Heroes and mage of Cait Shelter, Gilgamesh.

Dozens of golden portals opened behind him at a single motion of his hand, a weapon of legends stuck out from each of those. Fired as projectiles with a speed surpassing that of the sound, a golden rain of destruction made out of countless crafts fall on the dragon. But the beast shrieked in defiance, and countered with its own bombardment of beams. Collision after collision, the battle kept going on with none of the two showing sign of fatigue nor tiredness. A battle, or better a war between two monsters that had no winner for the moment. But the situation was going to change soon.

A sequence of portals appeared around the dragon, forming a ring around him from which continuous attacks followed. But that did not stop him, not even for a second, as he forcefully broke the encirclement by tearing the air itself apart. Then he dashed at the golden armored man, its fangs seeking for fresh blood to be drenched in.

Gilgamesh did not move from his potion nor falter. Holding a golden tablet that he materialized from inside of his vault, he applied many restraining spells around the body of the creature on top of several magical pentagrams all around him in a gravitational cage.

"Oh ho, not bad. I have slayed many of your kind, but you are the first one to survive so long. I commend you, black dragon, for your tenacity."

Arms crossed in a display of confidence. An elegance reserved to those of the highest royalty, an unwavering composure not disrupted by the beast's aspect nor its might.

The scaled being snarled in anger at those words, his jaw opening to devour the mana from its surrounding.

"Don't you dare lump me with those weaklings! I am Acnologia, the ultimate dragon of Apocalypse! None shall stand in my way!"

A mighty roar that made the earth shake and all the trees blow away.

"So you can even speak human language. Interesting. Indeed you are the first one to give me a real challenge in a while, but if you really think you can stand on equal ground as me, the King of Heroes, then you are beyond foolish."

The King of Heroes sounded slightly displeased, but nevertheless amused by the situation. Summoning even more portals, up to a hundred or so, he launched a second assault.

This time his opponent did not return the attack, and instead dived high in the sky beyond the sea of clouds above the battlefield.

The King narrowed his eyes and ceased his rapid fire.

"The king stands supreme above everything. Be it Heaven or Earth, none shall equal me. Come to me, Vimana."

A golden, miniature flying warship with gigantic, green wings then appeared beside him. Sitting on the red throne on top of it, he flew in pursuit of the dragon.

"What's the matter, black dragon? Where did all the confidence that you showed previously go?"

Both were flying at mach speed through the sky, Acnologia being chased by Gilgamesh as the later kept firing weapons to make the former crash on land.

And then the roles reversed as the marked beast suddenly spreaded his wings and stopped on his track, sending a shower of magic projectiles in the process.

Seven flower petals made out of violet light came out in response as Vimana turned around. Rho Aias: The Seven Rings That Covers The Fiery Heavens, seven boundary fields each with the defensive ability of a fortress wall that combined into a single, ultimate defence against any thrown weapon or projectile.

Channeling even more mana, Acnologia's chest greatly enlarged. A breath attack was incoming, one strong enough to wipe out at least an entire town. It was time for the king of the dragons to get serious and end the fight.

"Apocalypse Dragon's Breath!"

On the other side, Gilgamesh was now standing up and holding a single sword. Merodach: The Original Sin, prototype of the 'sword of the selection' named in a past legend. While not certainly his most powerful tool, its main use limited to that of testing any opponent worthy of the king's true might, its strength was not to be underestimated as it was capable of easily end entire armies with a single strike.

"I must admit it was quite an entertaining battle that surprisingly managed to excite me, but everything must have an end. As such, allow me to show you my appreciation by ending this fight with one of my most prized tresures."

The air got sliced in half as those two destructive forces clashed in a flash of light so bright that it made seem like there was a second, smaller sun. A huge shockwave expanded rapidly as consequence, clearing out the nearby clouds and destabilizing both sides.

The King of Heroes was the first to regain his stance after falling for few miles away from were the explosion occurred, his vehicle now returned inside the vault. Grabbing onto his two swords which were floating behind him, he laughed loudly. Not out of joy nor sadness, but simply of surprise.

"Fuhahahahaha! Impudent as you may be, perhaps your earlier statement was not so wrong!"

Unfortunately his excitement immediately died down afterward as the dragon, coated in a blue aura, was starting to vanish. For whenever reasons it seemed like he was retreating from the fight.

"I swear, golden mage, that one day I'll make you pay dear for this! Remember this, none shall escape from my rage for I am the harbinger of the end!"

"... Hmph. Escaping the instant I let my guard down with my boisterous laugh. Such insolence! But whenever, I just lost my motivation. There is no meaning to chase those that have no will to fight. Better report this to the one that send the request and end it here. I have other business to take care of after all."

Back to his usual, bored demeanor, Gilgamesh was ready to leave when he felt something ring from inside of his treasury. Picking out a communication lacrima, he answered the call that went on for a few minutes.

"Always finding a way to load me with work. Does he want see me die of overwork, that fool? What kind of master even need a guild member to help them keep up their own guild?" murmured the King once done, his mood not the most joyous one.

* * *

Era. Headquarter of the Council.

Five mages, or rather their projections, were gathered on top of a magical circle inside what could be called "deliberation room" where reunions between the ten members of the organization usually took place.

"So this Dead Apostole managed to hide his workings even from the Observation Model. But how could he have done so for so many years without anyone noticing it? It's highly unlikely that such thing went unnoticed. There is no way, unless…" stated Lord El Melloi, his voice darkened upon the last few words as a lingering trace of suspicious filled his sentence.

"Are you perhaps suggesting that there is a traitor among us?"

Kayneth twitched his eyebrows in slight annoyance, looking with eyes of disdain at the fat, old man that just interrupted him in the middle of his report.

Crawford Seam. Not a powerful mage, his Magic called Archive useful as it allowed to store incredible amounts of information but nothing more, neither one with many achievements. He was but a rich noble whose position as a member was mainly due to his status and his many connections.

Disgusting. While himself was a man of noble origins, Kayneth had always believed that one should not rely solely on their inheritance but use them as foundation in order to achieve greatness. Why was someone like Crawford a member of the Council? He could barely contain his uneasiness at the sight of the bearded geezer, but it was not time nor place to show off his personal distaste of the man.

"...Hmph. I have no concrete evidence on this matter, so I'll not further speculate on it. For now we'll just increase the security of this place and perform an update of the Model so no future tampering on it will be possible."

"Good idea. As expected of Lord El Melloi. Now onto our next point, the raid against Oracióus Seis's base proposed by Lamia Scale together with Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus and Cat Shelter."

Next to Seam was Alexander The Great, also known as Iskander.

The sole heir of an ancient dynasty of mighty warlords, a young man skilled both as a fighter and a commander. His age could deceive, but the red headed mage was far from naive. A natural born, charismatic leader gifted with great intellect and diplomacy.

Someone that didn't know him personally could perhaps mistake him for a king at first glance. Always easy going, perhaps too much, but also a person of honor and bravery.

"Didn't we already reached an agreement on that matter? We can't let those criminals wander any further in Fiore. We finally got a lead on their base, may as well use it to wipe them out once and for all."

Taking out the cigar he was smoking, Gordes Musik Yggdmillenia let out a small cloud of smoke.

Another man whose seat in the Council was mostly due to fame rather than abilities. But unlike Crawford, the blonde mage at least acted in a way fit for someone of his status. And despite his arrogant and prideful personality, he always worked diligently.

"Just wish we could do it without rely on the guild's support. This does make it look like we are week and in need of their assistance." added Org, last of the members of the Council currently present at the meeting.

"Can't be helped. Our main forces have been allocated in Fiore's capital, Uruk, for this year's Grand Magic Games. We are kind of shorthand at the moment."

As Crawford said, due to the Chairman's orders more than half of the Shinsengumi had been sent to aid in the protection of the city and help the surveillance during the annual tournament.

"Tsk. What was the Chairman thinking, giving such an order! He has pretty much left us powerless!"

If there was a table, it would have trembled violently by one of Gordes's angry slams.

"But he must have his reasons to do so. After all you know that he usually doesn't really take actions if not really needed. He must have foresaw something quite 'disastrous' if he has decided to step in. What was the last time he came outside of that room of his?"

"Was it that incident in which apparently some kind of 'alien' being from the Moon came on Earth to annihilate mankind? I heard it happened decades ago, before even the official establishment of the Council itself."

"Wait a moment, wasn't it that he stopped the falling of the Moon itself? It's the first time I hear of the involvement of 'aliens'."

"Stop it with nonsense you two. As if such things were true. They are no more than exaggerated rumors. And you, Waver Velvet, remember your position. Even if you're Alexander's right hand, you have no right to speak in this meeting if not asked to."

Kayneth had enough of listening to those absurd rumors, especially if the one to utter them were his fellow Council members. A cold glare was also directed to the young man beside Alexander, who he didn't saw with good eye. There was a limit to everything, and bringing a retainer in an important meeting was certainly not welcomed.

Waver immediately stopped talking, his look unfazed by the words of El Melloi. Alexander on the other hand was annoyed by the 'insult' that his retainer just received, but said nothing as to not create more discord.

"But it's unquestionable that the old man has many incredible achievements in the field of Magic. There is a reason why he had been the one and only Chairman ever since the foundation of this organization. The Wizard Marshall, holder of the Kaleidoscope and one of the most powerful mages of all times. One could even say he compares to the likes of Solomon and Merlin. If he deems necessary this displacement of our men than it must be something serious."

"This doesn't change the fact that we are now forced to ask for help, which leaves a bitter taste in my mouth."

"Well, we could always say that it's a repayment to the Council for all the damage that the guilds had caused to us. Will this suffice, Gordes-san?" replied Alexander, a bit of humor mixed in his sentence.

Gordes wanted to say something, anything that vaguely sounded as a reply. While he respected the young warlord, that didn't mean that he tolerated the way the youngster talked to his elders. But unfortunately he had more pressing problems at hand, and so he let the matter slid.

"...Eh, I guess it can't be helped. Let's end it here for today if we have nothing else to discuss. I still have other matters to attend."

"Then see you all next time."

* * *

A land filled with magma and surrounded by volcanoes. Was it a dream? Or reality?

A formless light in the sky. A red scaled dragon inside a cave.

"Why are you here, Grandine?"

"It has been a while, Igneel."

The Sky Dragon and the Flame Dragon met eyes to eyes for the first time since years, the two of them being among the last few of their species to survive from Acnologia's rampage.

"For you to be here...Did you perhaps forget our agreement? We promised to limit our communications as much as possible until the promised day. State your business and then leave this place."

"Well, I just happened to sense you nearby. Regarding that child of yours...for you to lend him the power of a true dragon, the King's form, is quite astonishing to say the least. Don't you think it may be too premature? For a kid of his age to already wield this level of Magic, I fear-"

"Hmph. The brat asked for power to protect those he cherish and I gave it to him, that's it. This is what he wished for, and the path he decided to walk. It's my duty as his 'parent' to assist him in whenever way I can. Whenever he'll end up regretting this choice of his later on or not is none of my business. And it's not like I'm the only one. Metallicana also did the same for his slayer. I daresay you are probably the only one among us who is too scared to do such thing. After all this power is theirs to begin with, we are simply keeping it in their stead until they are ready to use it."

"You're right, I am scared. Of course I am. But is it so wrong for me to worry? To not want my child, my Wendy, to suffer and get hurt? She's still a child. I want her to enjoy her childhood, and not fight for her life."

"That is just a delusionary thought of a fool. We can't keep watching forever over them. Sooner or later they'll need to walk on their own feet. What will you do when the promised day arrive? When the Dragon King Feast starts she's going to fight and you know it. It is inevitable, and we can't do nothing to stop it. The only thing we can do is prepare them."

"...But still, without mastering the use of Dragon Force first their bodies will-"

"Leave, now!"

"I can feel that our two children will someday meet. I hope that a friendly relationship will be established between them, at least better than the one between us. Farewell my old friend."

White light covered the world of flames, and the two mighty beasts disappeared as their voices faded in the distance.

* * *

Near Clover Town, place were the regular meeting among most of Fiore's guild masters took place monthly. In a nearby forest few miles in the sud.

A man stood on the edge of a cliff, his omnious, black armor glowing of red lines in the midst of the dark night. A red fur was pending behind his wide shoulders, and a reptilian tail attached to his back whipping the ground. His face, hidden under a hood, smiled of a feral grin.

One hand holding a cursed spear tinted in a dark red color, the other one a lacrima.

"...Did you take them out?"

"...Tsk, no. They managed to slip away. But don't need to worry. I destroyed their comunication lacrima. And they'll not able to go anywhere anytime soon, not after being wounded by this spear of mine."

"It's unlike you to fail to kill your target. Did you perhaps underestimate them?"

"...Hmph, I didn't think they would pull such a stunt at the last second. Had I known that there was such a troublesome mage among them, I would have finished them sooner."

"Well, at least we finished to deal with Blue Pegasus. Return now, there is no need to waste time to search for those low lives. We still need to prepare for the other three guilds. "

* * *

If Hell had a throne room, then that was how it may had looked like.

An empty seat in the middle, made of countless skulls with trails of blood coming out from each of their holes. Many violet flames hovering around and providing the bare minimum light, generated by the tormented souls trapped inside there forever.

Death. That was the only thing left inside the large, void space enclosed by walls filled with nothing but despair. Yet life was present, the place itself was a demonic furnace built to create and house new lives. Such contradiction, as the core of the one who originated the boundary.

There he stood, Zeref the Black Wizard. The immortal mage cursed by the Gods to suffer in eternity on those lands, never dying and forever bringing death.

"So everything went according to the plan?"

"...Not exactly. There were some 'complications', but our main objective is complete. Here, take it."

The other being in the room handed a glowing object to Zeref, its twinkle shiny as a star. It was the Holy Grail.

"As expected from the living weapon created by the Gods, Enkidu. Ops, sorry. I forgot you now go by the name of Kingu."

The black mage then turned around, but chains came out of the ground and bound him.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"...Just want to make sure that you can keep up your part of the deal. You can, can't you?"

"There is no need to worry. I always keep my promises. The plan has already been set in motion, it's just a question of time now. By the time of this year's Grand Magic Games, the ritual of awakening will finally be complete."

"Better for you that is true, or else I'll make you food for my little brothers."

With that the binds vanished, and Kingu walked away as Zeref returned to his own affairs.

"...Just a bit more mother, a little more time and the wait will be over. You'll finally descend on this world once again..."

"One done, six more. After so much time, I can finally see the ending coming closer. Soon master, very soon our dream will become reality."

* * *

_Author's note:_

_Here is the first interlude that I promised some time ago. Again a bit late, but that by now is nothing new I guess._

_**Blazblade:** Seems like the preview confused you quite a bit :)_

_**VGBlackwing: **Don't worry and glad for the review. For the Tendou Island arc, it will be something really unexpected that diverge greatly from canon._

_**Shiroyasha Rises: **Hope you're now satisfied hehe._

_**Dxhologram: **Gilgamesh is more or less satisfied by the current state of his city and isn't really bothered by the new king, tho he still consider them inferior to him._

_**Gen2324: **None of the two! About your question on dragon slayers, I'll publish a detailed explanation later on so wait for it._

_**Kensei-1085: **Not really. Something changed, but not much. Lisanna is dead tho, and she'll stay so._

_**Doortolight47: **I don't think Gilgamesh likes to be lumped together with__ the dragon slayers..._

_1) The first part is a battle. In the manga we never saw how Gildartz managed to escape Acnologia, so I used that at my advantage. Gilgamesh's look and fighting style is that of Prototype, combined with bits of his other two versions. His attitude in battle is that of Proto-Gilgamesh, while outside he acts more like Caster Gilgamesh._

_2) We get to see more of the Council's members. Surprised, aren't you? _

_3) The dialogue between Igneel and Grandine is similar to the one in canon, with in addition some info regarding the dragon slayer's powers. _

_4) Oh man, guess who is part of Oraciòus Seis? Their last member will remain a secret until halfway through next arc, but do try to guess. And why did I choose to not include Blue Pegasus? Too many character to focus on, so I chipped down a bit the number._

_5) Here the answer for those that asked. And who is the mysterious master of Zeref? You'll need to wait for that._

_And that's all. My schedule is a bit of a mess right now, but do expect at least a chapter every two weeks. And please leave a review if you liked the chapter. See you next time._


	19. The Oración Seis

_Sooooo I am back hehehe. _

_Sorry for the late update, but my computer suddenly stopped working a little while ago. With the Corona Virus problem happening, I had to repair it myself which took a lot of time and effort. _

_Sigh, hope no further delay happens from here on. Hope you enjoy this new chapter that kicks start Arc 2._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail nor Fate/Stay Night._

* * *

**Arc 2**

**Chapter 1****: The Oración Seis**

* * *

_Looking down from the rooftop of the temple, his gaze fell upon the citizen of the city which he was king of. Gathered around a big, vivid fire, dancing and singing in celebration of his return from the quest of slaying the beast of the Cedar Forest, they looked so happy and joyous. As a small smile formed on his lips, a voice interrupted the silence._

"_You look happy, Gil. Did something good happened?"_

_"Not really. I was just looking at the people down there celebrating our glorious return. I can't help but be fond of being their king when I look at how hard they work each day to create a better future for their sons and daughters." _

"_...You know, sometimes it is difficult even for me to understand you."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_You say you love this city and its people, yet you never seem to care about them. You look worried for their safety, but never took action to protect them. Isn't the king's role that of guiding the subjects? But I never see you do that, and instead your tyrannical way of ruling has caused much suffering."_

"_..."_

"_But perhaps it is not my role to say this. I am but a tool, and as such I don't have the right to do so. I'll just have to follow you wherever you go until the end of the world."_

"_Hmph, fool. Who said you can't say that? If you want to say something, just say it. And it's not like I am not aware of how badly my way of ruling are. Yet it is a necessity for protecting them is not the only way to guard them. It is my duty as the king to oversee this world and establish the future of this planet, but it is up to each and every one of them to create their own personal futures."_

"_And you're no simple tool. You've been with me for quite some time, fought and journeyed together with me through this vast land. You are the only one whom I can speak freely, who I consider my equal in this whole universe. Listen here, Erkidu. You are my -"_

As Gilgamesh opened his tired eyes, the light of the morning welcomed his awakening. Bathed in the warm radiance of the sun, he took a brief look to his surrounding before setting off once more.

A nostalgic sight. A familiar scent. Cedar Forest was still the same even after many years since his last visit.

Walking past the first few trees, he made his way. It was time to pay homage to his old friend's grave before departing to Edo, location which was supposed to be the headquarter of the Oración Seis and where Wendy was waiting for him.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

_She felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. Complete emptiness. Not a single tear was shed, much less a cry. She looked sad, but her eyes showed no emotion. Loneliness filled her heart, yet her mind was calm. Why? Was it because she hated him? Sure their relationship had not been the best, but no child would hate their parents right? She didn't know._

_Laying before her was the grave of her deceased father, who had died of illness while on a quest for his guild. Yes, the same father that had once caged her inside their villa and took away her freedom. Yes, the same father that had sent an entire guild in pursuit of her after her escape and hurt her dear friends in the process. Yes, the same father that had always cared more for his work rather than her. But that had been in the past, he had changed ever since their family's entire fortune had been lost and he had started anew as a commoner. _

_Perhaps the grudge was just too big to completely vanish, or not enough time had passed for her to forgive the man's sins. But how could she not feel at least a bit sorry for the death of her dad? It was weird, so weird that made her uneasy. She could not understand... _

It was a day like many at Fairy Tail, or so it was supposed to be. Not that there were normal days at all in such chaotic guild, but it was probably part of its charm which at least made life never boring.

Lucy certainly didn't expect otherwise when she arrived at the guild's main hall late in the morning. Natsu had once again sneaked inside her apartment and had woke her up in the worst way possible, which by now had pretty much became a sort of routine.

After such lively and abrupt awakening, things could certainly not go worse or at least she hopped so. But perhaps her luck was abysmal because contrary to her wish things did indeed went worse for her.

"What exactly is this?" asked Lucy, perplexed by the huge board that hadn't been there the day before and was now covering a large portion of the east wall.

"We've come up with an organization chart of the Dark Guilds. They seem to be awfully active recently, so I thought it would be good to keep track of their moves."

Mirajane poured a cup of her famous coffee, which Lucy couldn't help but compare to the one Avenger had prepared for her, and proceed to give the blonde girl a detailed explanation of the chart in question.

Out of the many names written on the large surface, three immediately jumped on the eye as they alone occupied at least three quarter of the entire space. They were the strongest dark guilds which stood at the top of the chain food and controlled single handily almost all of the criminal activities of Fiore.

Tartarus, known as the lair of the Devil, was a total mystery. Its very existence was doubt by many, and there were practically no information about it, but the gruesome rumors surrounding the dark guild made it seem like Hell itself which perhaps was not a far-fetched hypothesis since the name itself derived from the Greek Underworld.

Grimoire Heart, probably the largest and strongest of the three, was a strange one. To begin with it was

And lastly Oración Seis, formed by only six members and the most active of the bunch. In terms of money and influence they were certainly the one with the upper hand.

Together they formed the Balam Alliance, not really a true alliance but more of a non-aggressive pact between the three so that none could interfere with the other two.

"And you're not the only one to think in this way, Mira. In fact me and other guild masters, along the Council, have decided it is time to put a stop to them. As such we're going to take them down starting from the Oración Seis!" followed Makarov as he made his entry in the hall, his face serious unlike usual.

Everyone went silent for few seconds, unable to understand the meaning of the old man's words. Take down? Who? The Oración Seis? Really? Lucy was shocked, like her friends who all looked confused by the sudden declaration. Not that they were not confident in their strength, but attracting the ire of all the dark guilds was not a good perspective.

"Take them down? What exactly is this about, Master?"

"At the regular meeting a few weeks ago, the Oración Seis came up on the agenda. Seems like they're scheming something. As such it was decided that we would form an alliance with Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus and Cait Shelter to defeat them once for all. Not only that, but the Council also approved of this plan, and sent some forces to back us u-"

Before he could finish tho, light suddenly emitted from the lacrima he was carrying around and a big hologram screen picturing a familiar face appeared in mid air.

"Muwhahahaha, exactly! Rejoice, for you'll have the big honor of fighting alongside me, the Demon King of Sixth Heaven! I shall put up a show so hot that none shall forget!"

With a smile bright as the sun, Nobunaga immediately lighten up the tense atmosphere with one of her usual, cheerful laugh that anyone inside Fairy Tail could recognize from a mile away. The spirit inside the hall was now fired up, especially that of Natsu who was literally burning of excitement.

"Nobu! So you'll also go? Now I'm feeling all fired up!"

"Who is she?"

Lucy couldn't help but wonder who was the woman that was on the screen. Was she also a member of Fairy Tail? She hadn't seen her around in all the time she had spent there nor ever heard of her even before joining the guild, but her personality certainly fitted in it. She kind of reminded her of Natsu in that sense. Maybe she was away in long quest? But then Master referred to her as someone from the Council. Who was this mysterious person?

"Oda Nobunaga, known also as the Demon King of Sixth Heaven, is a mage of rank S of Fairy Tail who is currently working as a captain of Shinsengumi. She is our second strongest mage, but it's been a while since she returned here at Magnolia so that's why everyone are excited to see her."

S rank mage and second strongest of the guild...Second strongest...

"Wait, is she stronger than Erza and Mystogan!?"

"Yup. It's been a long time since we had a match so I don't know how large is the gap between us now. But the last time we did fight, she utterly defeated me. There is no doubt that she's incredibly powerful. Even Laxus never managed to snatch a win against her, tho maybe now things could be different."

"I still remember when she would join hands with Gildartz and Nightingale. There were no mission that the three of them could not accomplish, tho a lot of damage would always be left behind haha…"

Looking dumbstruck, the Celestian Spirit mage found herself incredulous at the idea that someone more powerful than Laxus could even exist. What kind of 'monsters' dwelled in Fairy Tail that she had yet to meet? Erza was already a one woman army, and there were people stronger than her?!

The ones to answer were Erza and Jellal, who found themselves taking part in the discussion as they caught wind of Lucy's question, both smiling fondly while talking of their elders. It had passed around two weeks from the Prison Tower incident, and the two were almost fully healed. But despite that, Master and Nightingale had been adamant on not letting the two taking any quest until complete recovery.

Nothing really changed from before the whole mess, except maybe now they seemed more open with their feelings or so Mira said. Especially the blue headed mage who used to be a person of few words, and now spoke quite freely without much reservation with others.

"We shall put up a huge party when I'll make my triumphant return! But for now let's focus on the problem at hand. Here are some info about our targets."

Some images flashed on the screen as Oda started to read the report in her hand aloud.

First was Cobra, the one which they had more data on. A poison type Magic user with tanned skin, maroon spiky hair and purple, slanted left eyes. A purple scaled snake of big proportions was near his feet, probably a familiar of sort. While not much is known of his fighting style, his strength was on par with at least an S rank mage. Multiple small guilds had in the past been destroyed all by him.

Angel. A Celestian Spirit mage with long, silver hair, a blue ribbon and a feathery, quite daring dress on. Arguably the weakest of them, but the most versatile thanks to the many keys in her possession which identity was currently unknown.

Midnight. An effeminate man with black, spiky hair along white strands, black lips and wore a leather jacket. No data on his magic. What was surprising was that all images of him had the person seemingly asleep while surrounded by tons of corpses.

Cu Chulainn. Wielder of a cursed spear that missed no target once thrown, a skilled warrior of unheard ferocity that left no survivor on his road.

Brain. An old, tanned man with long, white hair and marks on his face. No data on his magic. Some sources had him as the leader and Master of the guild.

Unknown. No one seemed to have ever heard or seen the last member, but his existence seemed to be confirmed by certain rumors.

"Wait a second, is this all? It's not much information if you ask me. Won't it be dangerous to face them without a plan? We don't even know what some of them are capable of."

Gray had his share of doubts, which was understandable seeing that half of the six dark mages abilities were unknown which gave them no way to prepare a strategy beforehand.

"Ah ha, I see you are still as cautious as ever Gray. Indeed this little amount of data is pretty useless overall, but that's why we're forming an alliance. If our number is higher than theirs, even if they'll ambush us we'll still manage somehow. Once there, we'll simply improvise a plan as the situation evolve and overcome any difficulties as they present."

"That doesn't sound reassuring at all."

"Hahahaha, stop being so pessimistic fool. If worst came, I'll pull a Okehazama and lead us to victory! Hm, what is it Okita? We need to finish the preparations for the mission? Can't we just leave it to the underlings? No? What do you mean no? I'll not lower myself to do such tasks unworthy of my r-"

A katana sliced. Bullets were fired. And then static followed as the communication got suddenly cut. Everyone in the guild dropped a sweet altogether, used by those kind of antics when dealing with the crazy Gun Magic user.

"Cough, cough. Well now I'll announce the members that will take part of this mission…"

And of course Lucy got selected. Not that she was really surprised since not a lot of members were available either due to injuries or because they were away from the guild. Neither when Master called Natsu and Gray since those two were most likely the strongest non-s ranked mages at Fairy Tail. The last two tho did gave her a bit of shock...

* * *

-Two days later-

_Was it anger? No, his defeat was a result of his own weakness and arrogance. Shame? More likely since for someone boasting to be the strongest dragon slayer in the country such defeat was quite a blow to his own confidence. But no, not even this excuse was true at all. He felt no animosity toward Fairy Tail since it was Phantom Lord that drew the first blood, but then he could not find an answer to why he felt such strange emotions toward that guild._

_What was the deal with the old man? The bitter taste of defeat and the sense of humiliation were still there inside him, making him feel weak and pathetic. And Makarov Dreyer dared to ask him to join Fairy Tail!? Madness!_

_He had never heard something so stupid in his entire life. Why should he, Gajeel Redfox, ex member of Phantom Lord, join his former enemy? Why would Fairy Tail accept someone like him in the first place?_

_It was beyond his understanding. He had destroyed their guild building and hurt some of their members. It was not something that should be easy to forgive._

_Friendship? Family? None of those words held any meaning to him. He had always relied on himself. Friends and comrades were only for weaklings. Yet why did he lose then?_

_Perhaps that was the reason why he accepted the absurd proposal. An answer, he needed an answer._

It was but a small rural town located in the west side of the country, in a mountain region surrounded by forests. Nothing out of the norm at first sight, just a plain old town. Ancient styled buildings that seemed to have at least few decades of life made up most of the place which was probably smaller than Magnolia in size, all of them very simple at the exception of few such as the tall castle that stood right in the middle of it. Edo was its name.

But it had not always been like that. Once upon a time it used to be a big, lively city, but after a certain tragedy in which many lives were lost and most of the city destroyed, it became what was nowadays. Unfortunately information regarding the disaster or its causes were unavailable, and no trace of it could be found anywhere.

According to the Council there were still people living in Edo, not the descendants of the ones that originally lived there but travelers that came at a later time. Unlike in the past its population was not big as it used to be, but at least life started to move again.

Strangely enough tho, ever since their carriage made its way in the town, the mages of Fairy Tail didn't meet even a single person. It was like a ghost town, devoid of life and filled with a deadly silence.

The man with long, black hair and iron piercings, his name Gajeel Redfox, gripped his black, sleeveless coat while grunting under his breath as his whole body fell in a state of illness caused by the weakness common to all dragon slayers. He thought to be immune to such stupid thing unlike his rival Salamander, yet there he was unable to contain his need of throwing up out of the window of the vehicle he was in.

Near him was Panther Lily, his Exceed partner with brown skin who had a pair of white trousers on and carried a magical sword on the back. Like usual he was one of few words, silently meditating on his own.

Sitting across him were Lucy, Natsu and Happy, while outside in the driver seat were Gray and Juvia. An unorthodox bunch to say the least, not fit for the kind of mission assigned to them since trust was required and Gajeel certainly had none for his 'comrades'.

"Hm, there is someone in the middle of the road."

A cloaked person suddenly walked out of a side alley, stopping in front of them a few meters ahead. Standing immobile in the middle of the street, he showed no sign of wanting to move away.

"Hey you there, where do you think you're standing? You're obstructing the passage. Get out of there."

No answer. Either they were ignoring Gray or they hadn't noticed the carriage, which was highly improbable since outside of the sound of its wheels nothing else could be heard.

"Did he not hear me? Is he deaf? Hey you-"

"Everyone get out, now!"

At Juvia's shout, everyone did as she said. A wave of acid corroded the entirety of the carriage as the group jumped out of it in the nick of time. Another second and not even a bit of them would be left, just like the now completely melted vehicle.

"W-What was that!? Are everyone ok?"

"Ouch ouch, Juvia feels a little stunned. Thankfully Gray-sama has cushioned my fall with his beautiful body."

"G-Gratz that I was helpful Juvia, but now get away from me."

"Grrrr. You punk, who the hell are you?"

In response to Salamander's question, the cloak got unraveled, revealing a face they had seen previously in the reports given to them by the Council.

"Welcome to Edo, you maggots from the light. I'm a member of the infamous Oracióus Seis, the name Cobra. On the order of our leader Brain, I'll put an end to your miserable lives here and now."

"O-Oración Seis!? B-But how did they knew that we were coming?"

"Who cares. You actually saved us the trouble of finding you lot!"

Cutting out the small talks, both Natsu and Gajeel wasted no time to return the enemy's greeting with their own ones.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!"

"Iron Dragon's Roar!"

A vortex of fire and iron erupted from their mouths, hurling toward Cobra with tremendous destructive power.

Perhaps it would be difficult, but it was not like Cobra had no way to avoid it. But even so the dark mage, to their shock, did not try to dodge, and instead accomplished the impossible by blocking their combined spells with only his right hand covered in purple scales.

"Hahaha, is this all? I sure hope not since I expect much more from you two dragon slayers."

"I am just getting started, bastard. Unlike Salamander here, I am far from showing my full power. I'll make you regret ever meeting me."

"Shut up, Gajeel. I'll handle him myself. You stay back."

"We should help them. Not that I doubt Gajeel or Salamander, but the quicker we deal with the enemy, the better. We must finish this before other members of the dark guild arrive."

Increasing the size of his body to that of a tall, muscular person, Lily grabbed the now enlarged blade on his back and prepared to join the battle.

"Yeah, I feel the same as Lily. We can't afford to face multiple powerful, dark mages simultaneously. Open! Gate of-"

But just as Lucy was about to summon a spirit, a looming shadow fell on her from above.

An armored man with a red spear in hand had jumped from the rooftop of a nearby house and was descending on the blond mage, ready to pierce her with the cursed weapon.

"Watch out Lucy! Ice Devil's Destructive Bow!"

Creating a bow in his left hand, Gray shot multiple arrows of ice.

None of the projectiles hit the target, all swept away a mystical gust of wind which resembled a blessing of sort, but the attempt gave enough time for Lily to intercept the lancer's strike.

"And here I thought that it would have been an easy kill. Seems like this time around I'll need to take things more seriously!"

Filled with a murderous aura, Cu jumped on his prey like a voracious beast. Swirling his demonic weapon left and right, he engaged in a rapid exchange with both Lily and Fullbuster.

"E-Everyone, be careful behind you!" screamed in panic Happy, as he realized that all around mechanical soldiers were starting to emerge from the soil.

"We're surrounded from all sides! This is an ambush and we easily fall into it! We need to retreat and reorganize ourselves!"

"Tsk. Easy to say, but I don't think they'll let us go so easily."

"G-Gray-sama, behind y-"

Too late for Juvia to do anything. She saw one of the puppets approaching quickly Gray, but was too far to do anything as she had her hands tied in dealing the ones on her front.

As for the devil slayer himself, the opponent in front of him gave him no space to disengage and a moment of hesitation would prove lethal.

"Ice make: Eagle!"

As a metallic limb was about to slice his back, an eagle of ice intercepted the soldier in time. But it was not Gray's, but someone else's.

"Y-You are-"

The user of the spell was a man with silver, spiky hair and a white coat on. It seemed like Gray knew the identity of the mysterious newcomer, but the situation at hand didn't allow for a proper introduction.

"We'll talk later, Gray. Now it's imperative to get our assess out of this sticky situation."

"I hear you, fools. How do you think to escape from here with all routes blocked, eh?"

"Where do you think you're looking? Iron Dragon's Sword!"

"Take this! Fire Dragon's Axe!"

A sword of iron and a blazing kick approached from two different angles, but Cobra did not falter. With a swift motion he blocked both attacks and send the two dragon slayers back, showing overwhelming force.

"In this way! Now, Jura-san!"

Stone pillars emerged from the ground around the mages of light to form a wall. A hole then formed beneath them, revealing an underground tunnel from which they made their escape.

Once they fell inside of it the ground got once more covered, leaving no way for the two dark mages to pursuit their prey.

"Tsk. They escaped from the ground. What now, do we chase after them?"

'No need. They pose no problems to us. We shall proceed with our plan without further delay. But do remain vigilant, we can't allow interruption on the project.'

A voice ringed inside the head of the two Oraciòn Seis members.

Brain, their leader, spoke through their minds.

The armored man grimaced for a second, clearly not happy with the order. There was no anger in his red pupils, just displeasure. Why leave an easy prey? If it was for him, the enemy would already have been killed off, but Brain clearly had other plans in mind and so he did not comply much.

"Relax big guy, I shall keep my ears open."

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

It was odd. Too odd to be a mere coincidence. The first time maybe, but for the same thing to happen not twice but thrice was not normal.

"Hmmm, what's this? Seems like a landslide has blocked the path. Isn't this the third time already?"

Even her own underlings were thinking that the situation was far too strange. Someone was trying to hinder their way to Edo. But who? The Oraciòn Seis? But how did they knew about the mission? Maybe a leak of information caused by a spy?

"With the road in this state, we have no other way but going back and take the long path. This will delay reasonably our schedule."

As Okita stated the obvious, Nobu could only growl in frustration before yet another unexpected obstacle which further delayed their plans.

"Tsk. I just hope that this is just my imagination and nothing more, and that the brats don't get into any sort of trouble before our arrival..."

* * *

_Author's note:_

_**Journey to the end**: What can I say, Gil likes to make people waiting for him XD_

_**Kensei-1085: **Was it obvious? Hope not, but with Kingu around sooner or later people would have to guess it right. _

_**Dxhologram: **Yup, at this point there is no way to hide her identity anymore._

_**Gen2324: **Can't say much, but our dickwizard and his tower are indeed present._

**_fruitspunchsamurai-987: _**_The third arc is where Gil will be the main focus, but for now he'll get to appear in this arc soon after a bit of introduction first. And a worthy opponent will show up in the next few chapters._

_Got a bit rusty from not writing for a while, but I think the chapter ended up alright._

_Babylonia has aired its last episode, but the journey is not yet ended. The Knights of Round Table are awaiting in Camelot, and Solomon Singularity's adaptation has been announced. Can't wait for both. And on FGO I recently played the first Lostbelt, which I daresay is on par with the Sixth and Seventh Singularity in terms of quality._

_Now a bit of information. __The first part is a bit of flashback for Gil, similar to the one in anime but with a bit of my own. Then a bit of information regarding the Oración Seis and their base. And finally a first, direct confrontation with two of them. Things happened very differently from canon, but the overall plot will probably not change much. Unlike the manga, instead of Erza we got Gajeel and Juvia this time around. Hopefully I'll give them some time to shine._

_This is all. If you have anything to say, just leave a review. See you next time, bye._


End file.
